Richard Alan Badanjek (born April 25, 1962) 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. Having grown up the son of interracial parents, he was a 1981 graduate of

Chalker High School Chalker High School is a public high school in Southington Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Southington Local School District. Their mascot is the Wildcats, and compete as a member of the Ohio High School Athletic ...

in the tiny rural town of

Southington, Ohio Southington is an unincorporated community in central Southington Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. It lies at the intersection of U.S. Route 422 with State Route 305 and has a post office with the ZIP code 44470. It is part of t ...

, where he led the Wildcats to their best season in school history his senior year at 9-1, winning Team MVP. He ran for 5,336 yards throughout his four years at the prep level, including over 2,000 yards and winning the OHSAA Class A Offensive Back of the Year his senior season. In a game against

Ledgemont High School Ledgemont High School was a public high school in Thompson Township, Geauga County, Ohio. It was the only high school in the Ledgemont Local Schools district. Their nickname was the Redskins. Due to financial problems that the district faced, the ...

in 1980, Badanjek rushed for around 475 yards, en route to a 45-8 victory. 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 Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and was drafted in the seventh round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the

(now known as the Washington Commanders). He played in Washington for one season before being traded to the

, where he started two games during the NFLPA strike of 1987. That year, he rushed for 87 yards on 29 carries and caught 6 passes for 35 yards, while running for a three-yard touchdown in Week 5 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

College career

Graduating from

, after an illustrious career at the small school, Badanjek committed to the University of Maryland.

College Statistics

Professional career

Badanjeck was drafted 186th in the seventh round in the

by Washington.

Professional Statistics

References

1962 births Living people Players of American football from Warren, Ohio American football running backs Maryland Terrapins football players Washington Redskins players Atlanta Falcons players National Football League replacement players {{runningback-1960s-stub