John "Bucky" Powell Richardson (born February 7, 1969, in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

) is a former

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

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

who went on to play professionally for the NFL's

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

. He is married to Tracey and has three children named Jordan, John Paul and Jenna.

High School and College

Richardson attended

Broadmoor High School Broadmoor Senior High School (Broadmoor High School or BHS) is an accredited high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It is a part of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. History Broadmoor High School was founded in 1960 and re ...

Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, where he starred in both baseball and football. He played collegiately at Texas A&M and made an immediate impact as a freshman coming off the bench and making his first appearance for the Aggies against

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

and future NFL star

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...

, Richardson led the Aggies to a road victory in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

when he broke away in the fourth quarter on an 82-yard touchdown. In the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

that same season against Notre Dame. Richardson was named

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

after leading the Aggies to a come from behind victory in the 2nd half. Against

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

in the 1990

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has ...

, Richardson compiled 402 yards of total offense (203 pass, 199 run). He rushed for two touchdowns, passed for a touchdown, and caught a touchdown pass. Richardson was also an All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

pick his senior season in 1991, leading the Aggies with 1492 passing yards. He finished in 10th place in the Heisman Trophy voting that year. During his Texas A&M career, Richardson rushed for 2,095 yards, a conference record for QBs. He played in three bowl games with the Aggies and led them to two SWC Championships. He finished his Aggie career 24-6-1 as a starter.

NFL

Richardson was drafted in the eighth round of the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 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 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott ...

by the Houston Oilers. He played mostly in mop-up duty and even saw action on special teams during his first two seasons in the league, but when Oilers' QB

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...

was traded to the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

, Houston's quarterback position was up for grabs. Incumbent backup

Cody Carlson Matthew Cody Carlson (born November 5, 1963) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Houston Oilers in the 3rd round of the 1987 NFL Draft. A 6'3", 200-lb. quarterback from Baylor University, Carlson played in ...

began the 1994 season under center, but when he separated his shoulder in the season opener, Richardson became the starting quarterback. He is fondly remembered during a preseason exhibition game against 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 divi ...

. Late in the game and down by one score, Richardson led the Oilers within striking distance. The drive culminated with a play during which he, a right-hander, completed the winning touchdown pass with his left arm. Richardson was the starter for nearly half of the season and he split time with Carlson and

Billy Joe Tolliver Billy Joe Tolliver (born February 7, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) for twelve seasons with the San Diego Chargers, Atlanta ...

, none of the three being particularly effective as the Oilers stumbled their way to a league-worst 2–14 record. In Richardson's last regular season game as a pro, he passed for over 200 yards, leading the Oilers in a 24–10 victory over the New York Jets in the Oilers' 1994 season finale in what was

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is a former cornerback and return specialist. He ...

's first win as an NFL head coach. The Oilers released Richardson after drafting

Steve McNair Stephen LaTreal McNair (February 14, 1973 – July 4, 2009),Steve McNair Found Dead
...

in April 1995. The

signed Richardson in August 1995, planning to use him on special teams and to back up

Daryl Johnston Daryl Peter "Moose" Johnston (born February 10, 1966) is a former fullback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Syracuse University. He was the General Manager of the San Antonio Commanders of ...

at fullback; however, Richardson did not see any regular-season action. 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 ...

signed him the following year and he capped off a 1996 preseason victory with a touchdown pass for the Chiefs against his former team the Cowboys. Despite his preseason heroics, Richardson never saw action in another regular-season NFL game. He finished his career with 1,257 passing yards and 225 rushing yards on a 6.8 yards per carry average.

Personal life

Richardson resides in the Houston suburb of

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, up from 67,3 ...

with his wife Tracy and their three children. He is the co-owner of Environmental Improvements, Inc., a water and waste treatment company. He coaches his son's football team, the Panthers and baseball team, The Xtreme, in tournaments around Houston.

References

External links

ProFootballReference.com NFL statisticsAggie Athletics Press ReleasePreseason win with Chiefs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Bucky American football quarterbacks Texas A&M Aggies football players Houston Oilers players Living people 1969 births Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Broadmoor High School alumni Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Players of American football from Texas