Anthony Dashawn Richardson (born May 22, 2002) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and was selected by the Colts fourth overall in the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

Early life

Richardson was born on May 22, 2002, in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. He later attended Eastside High School in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

, where he played

for their football team. During his high school career, he had 4,633 passing yards with 37 passing touchdowns, along with 1,633 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns. He committed to play

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

College career

Richardson appeared in just four games during his first year at Florida in 2020, completing one of two passes for 27 yards with a touchdown and interception. He was able to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

his first year of collegiate eligibility. Richardson entered 2021 as the backup to

Emory Jones Emory Jones (born April 29, 2000) is an American football quarterback for Cincinnati. Jones began his college football career at Florida in 2018 before transferring to Arizona State in 2022. Early life and high school Jones grew up in LaGrange ...

. Against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, he replaced Jones and completed 10 of 19 passes for 167 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions and a rushing touchdown. Richardson helped lead a 29–26 upset over the seventh-ranked

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

on September 3, 2022. On September 24, in a 38–33 loss to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Richardson passed for 453 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception to go along with 17 carries for 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Following the end of the 2022 season, Richardson announced that he would enter the

Professional career

Richardson was drafted in the first round by the

with the fourth overall pick in the

. Richardson's combine measurables ranked him as the most athletic quarterback prospect in league history according to the Relative Athletic Score (RAS) metric. He joined

Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the NFL ...

and

Daunte Culpepper Daunte Rachard Culpepper (born January 28, 1977) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at UCF and was selected ...

as the only quarterbacks to have achieved a perfect RAS score.

2023 season

During his first training camp with the Colts, Richardson underwent nasal septum surgery to improve his breathing. On August 15, 2023, Richardson was named by head coach

Shane Steichen Shane Steichen ( ; born May 11, 1985) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers from ...

as the Colts' starting quarterback over

Gardner Minshew Gardner Flint Minshew II (born May 16, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He began his college football career at Northwest Mississippi, winning the NJCAA National Footba ...

and

Sam Ehlinger Samuel George Ehlinger ( ; born September 30, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played high school football at Westlake in Austin, Texas, where he broke various school ...

. On September 10, 2023, Richardson made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. Richardson threw his first touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr, ran for a touchdown, and threw his first career interception to

Tyson Campbell Tyson M. Campbell (born March 17, 2000) is an American football cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia. He was drafted by the Jaguars in the second round of the 2021 N ...

in the 31-21 loss. In week two against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, Richardson ran for two touchdowns before leaving the game with a concussion in the second quarter. On September 22, 2023, Richardson was declared out in Week 3 due to a concussion he suffered in Week 2. He returned the next week against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

and recorded two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown and erased a 23 point deficit in a 29-23 loss in overtime. His rushing touchdown in this game marked the first time in NFL history that a rookie quarterback has scored a rushing touchdown in each of his first three starts. On October 9, 2023, Richardson was placed on the injured reserve due to a grade three AC joint sprain he suffered in Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans, which was initially announced for him to miss one to two months. On October 18, 2023, the Colts announced that Richardson would miss the remainder of the season, and successfully underwent shoulder surgery to repair the sprain on October 24, 2023.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

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Indianapolis Colts bioFlorida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Anthony 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Miami American football quarterbacks Florida Gators football players Eastside High School (Gainesville, Florida) alumni Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida African-American players of American football Indianapolis Colts players