James G. Richards (born November 7, 1969) is a former

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 ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in 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 ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

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 Phoenix Cardinals. He also was a member of the Las Vegas Posse in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was selected by the

in the third round (64th overall) of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Early years

Richards attended

Antelope Valley High School Antelope Valley High School is located in Lancaster, California, and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District, in northernmost Los Angeles County, California. It was founded in 1912, and had its first graduating class in 1912. I ...

, where he was an All-state

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

as a senior. In 1987, he accepted a football scholarship from Cal State Northridge, where he played as an

. In 1988, he transferred to Antelope Valley College. As a junior in 1989, he transferred to the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. He was named the starter at

left guard In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right g ...

, protecting

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 ...

Toy Taylor, who set a Cal record for total offense and passed for the second most yards in a single-season in school history. As a senior in 1990, he started all 12 games at left guard and was also the long snapper for punts in the first four contests. He contributed to Russell White and Anthony Wallace becoming the first pair of

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s in school history to gain 1,000 rushing yards in the same year. They also became the fourth and fifth players in Cal history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single-season. Richards only missed 10 offensive snaps in his last two seasons.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Richards was selected by the

in the third round (64th overall) of the

. He struggled with his blocking during training camp and was waived on August 26. In September, he was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

, until being released on October 9.

Los Angeles Rams

On October 16,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, he was signed to the

. He was released on November 6.

Phoenix Cardinals

On February 4,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the Phoenix Cardinals. He was released on September 1. On November 2, he was signed to the

. He was waived on November 10.

Dallas Cowboys

On April 13,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, he signed with the

. He was released before the season started.

Las Vegas Posse

In July

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, Richards was signed by the expansion team Las Vegas Posse of the

. He was injured and appeared in only 3 games. He played as an

, before the team folded at the end of the season.

References

External links

Pro Football Archives profileJust Sports profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, James Living people 1969 births People from Lancaster, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California American football offensive linemen Canadian football offensive linemen American players of Canadian football Cal State Northridge Matadors football players Antelope Valley College alumni California Golden Bears football players Las Vegas Posse players Antelope Valley High School alumni