Rico Richardson (born July 1, 1991) 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 ...

wide receiver. 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 ...

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. He was a member of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

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 ...

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

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).

Early years

Richardson was born in

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Natchez High School Natchez High School is a public school in Natchez, Mississippi (USA). It is part of the Natchez-Adams School District and serves students in grades nine through twelve. About In 2005, it had 1358 students and 73 teachers. 88% of the students w ...

. He was a 1st team All-Region, 1st team All-Metro and 2nd team All-State. He set a Natchez High School receiving record with 3,500 yards. Richardson recorded 46 receptions for 891 yards and seven touchdowns his senior year. He also rushed for 442 yards and six touchdowns on 42 carries. He was the a Class 5A state champion in the triple jump (46 feet, 11 inches) in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. Richardson also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

in high school.

College career

Richardson played for the

Jackson State Tigers The Jackson State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Conference affiliation Jackson State University's athletic teams participate in the Southwestern Athletic Confe ...

from 2009 to 2012. He played in 43 games, starting 20, for the Tigers. He recorded 146 receptions for 2,722 yards (18.6 avg.) and 26 touchdowns.

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

Richardson signed with the

on May 1, 2013 after going undrafted in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. He was released by the Chiefs on August 31, 2013.

Houston Texans

Richardson was signed to the

' practice squad on November 13, 2013. He was signed to a future contract on December 30, 2013. He was released by the Texans on May 14, 2014.

Tennessee Titans

Richardson signed with the

on June 13, 2014. He was released by the Titans on August 30 and signed to the team's practice squad on August 31, 2014. He was promoted to the active roster on December 18, 2014. On December 18, 2014, Richardson made his NFL debut 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 was released by the Titans on September 5, 2015, and signed to the team's practice squad on September 6, 2015. He was promoted to the active roster on October 24, 2015, as the Titans released

Chase Coffman Chase Allen Coffman (born November 10, 1986) is a former American football tight end. He played college football for the University of Missouri, earned consensus All-American honors, and was recognized as the best college tight end in the count ...

. On November 28, 2015, he was waived by the Titans. Richardson was re-signed to the practice squad on December 22, 2015.

Arizona Cardinals

Richardson was signed by the

on June 6, 2016. On July 30, 2016, Richardson was released by the Cardinals.

San Diego Chargers

Richardson was signed by the

on August 8, 2016. He was then waived/injured on August 18, 2016.

Personal life

Richardson has two daughters, Harmonee and Melody.

References

External links

NFL Draft Scout"The 10 Least Consequential Athletes of the Decade"
by

Jon Bois Jon Bois (; born September 24, 1982) is an American sports writer, video producer, and YouTuber. He is the creative director at ''SB Nation'', a sports blogging network. Bois is known for his speculative fiction works on sports, such as ''17776 ...

, for

SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the network ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Rico Living people 1991 births American football wide receivers African-American players of American football Jackson State Tigers football players Kansas City Chiefs players Houston Texans players Tennessee Titans players Arizona Cardinals players San Diego Chargers players Players of American football from Mississippi Sportspeople from Natchez, Mississippi 21st-century African-American sportspeople