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Curvin Richards

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Curvin Richards
No. 27, 28
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born:(1968-12-26)December 26, 1968(age 55)
Port of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago
Height:5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school:La Porte (TX)
College:Pittsburgh
NFL draft:1991/ round: 4 / pick: 97
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:12
Player stats atPFR

Curvin Richards(born December 26, 1968) is a former professionalAmerican footballrunning backwho played for three seasons in theNational Football League(NFL). He playedcollege footballfor thePittsburgh Panthers.He spent two seasons with theDallas Cowboys(1991–1992) and one season with theDetroit Lionsin 1993. He is distinguished as being the firstTrinidadianto play in the NFL. With the Cowboys, he wonSuper Bowl XXVIIover theBuffalo Bills.

Early life

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Richards was born inTrinidad and Tobago,before his family moved toLa Porte, Texas,when he was 10 years old. He attendedLaPorte High Schoolwhere he became a starter as a sophomore and produced 1,577 rushing yards.

The next year, he finished with 1,106 rushing yards. As a senior a newwishbone offensewas implemented, which in turn impacted his carries and production (811 rushing yards).[1]

He also playedcenter fielderinbaseball,hitting for a.429 average as a senior.

College career

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Richards accepted a football scholarship form theUniversity of Pittsburgh.He was a third-teamrunning backwhen his freshman season started. AfterAdam Walkerwas injured in the first quarter of the fourth game of the season againstBoston College,Richards replaced him and rushed for 202 yards.[2]Not only did he keep the starting job but also became a media sensation, earning the nickname "Swervin" and being compared toTony DorsettandHerschel Walker.[3]He finished the season as theDivision I-Aleading freshman rusher (1,228 rushing yards) and the second freshman in school history to have a 1,000 yard season (after Dorsett). He also had 3 games where he rushed for over 200 yards.

The next year, he registered 1,282 rushing yards, becoming only second player in school history to achieve multiple and back-to-back 1,000 yards rushing seasons (after Dorsett). He rushed for a career-high 264 yards againstEast Carolina University,at the time the fourth best single-game mark in school history.

As a junior, he began the year with three straight 100-yard rushing games, before suffering an ankle injury when a lineman fell on his leg during a practice. He lost three games due to this severe sprained ankle and started only three of the last five games of the season, which made his statistics drop to 682 rushing yards and 2touchdowns.

The following season, he was suspended indefinitely by new head coachPaul Hackettfor missing team meetings and study hall time.[4]News later surfaced that even though he didn't inform the team, he left to be with his sister who was in a coma with a brain tumor and eventually died. [5]This situation made him decide to declare as an early entry into theNFL Draft.

Even though he only played for three years, he left as the school's second career rusher with 3,192 yards (behind Dorsett).

Professional career

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Dallas Cowboys

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Richards was selected by theDallas Cowboysin thefourth round (97th overall)of the1991 NFL draft,after he dropped because of a poor junior year.[6]He was the team's second leading rusher in the preseason and had the Cowboys longest run (a 32-yarder). He made the team as the backup to future Hall of Famerunning backEmmitt Smith,but was placed on theinjured reserve listafter the second game of the season.

During the last game of the1992 regular season,when the Cowboys were playing theChicago Bears,the team rested most of its regular players in the fourth quarter (including Smith), to prepare for the upcoming playoffs. Richards saw extensive playing time and scored atouchdown,but also committed two costly fumbles in a 27-14 win.[7][8]The next day, Cowboys coachJimmy Johnsonreleased him, citing the fact that he could not tolerate arunning backwith a fumbling problem going into the playoffs, even though he would not be able to replace his roster spot by signing a new player, that he would have to pay him in full for all of the remaining games and eventually would have to give him aSuper Bowlring. Thus, Richards missed the entire1992 postseason,including the Cowboys' 52-17 win over theBuffalo BillsinSuper Bowl XXVII.[9]

Detroit Lions

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In1993,he signed as afree agentwith theDetroit Lions.He was released on August 30 and recalled off waivers the next day.[10]He was cut on September 7, after playing in one game.[11]

Sacramento Gold Miners

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On May 19,1994,he signed with theSacramento Gold Minersof theCanadian Football League.[12]

References

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  1. ^"Eyes make a whiz out of Pitt's Curvin Richards".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 31, 1988.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  2. ^"East Roundup: Freshman Quarterback Leads Penn State".Los Angeles Times.October 2, 1988.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  3. ^"Naturally, Richards on the run".Pittsburgh Press. November 19, 1988.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  4. ^"Richards suspended, may return to Pitt in April".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 28, 1991.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  5. ^"Time for students to weigh pros and cons".The Prescott Courier. February 1, 1991.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  6. ^"1991 NFL Draft Listing".Pro-Football-Reference.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  7. ^"Pearlman:" Boys Will Be Boys "excerpt - ESPN Page 2".espn.RetrievedAugust 15,2024.
  8. ^"Richards released".The Victoria Advocate. December 9, 1992.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  9. ^Pearlman, Jeff (September 19, 2008)."Beware of the wrath of Jimmy Johnson".ESPN.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  10. ^"Transactions".The Baltimore Sun. September 1, 1993. Archived fromthe originalon July 24, 2015.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  11. ^"Transactions".The Baltimore Sun. September 8, 1993.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
  12. ^"Transactions".The Baltimore Sun. May 20, 1994.RetrievedMarch 15,2023.
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