Stanley Richard

Stanley Palmer Richard (born October 21, 1967), nicknamed "the Sheriff", is an American former professional football player who was a safety for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, earning first-team All-American honors in 1990. In the NFL, he was the starting strong safety for the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.

Early life

Richard was born in Mineola, Texas and played football at nearby Hawkins High School in Hawkins, where he was selected as an all-state player.

College career

Richard played college football at the University of Texas from 1987 to 1990, where he was the team's MVP, UPI's Southwest Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, All-Southwest Conference, a UPI All-American Honorable Mention and an AP First Team All-American safety in 1990. He helped lead the Longhorns to a conference championship and a #3 ranking going into the Cotton Bowl where they had a shot at the National Championship.

In 2004, he was inducted into the Texas Longhorn's Hall of Honor.

Professional career

Richard was drafted ninth overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 1991 NFL draft and played with the Chargers from 1991 to 1994. He was a late holdout coming into the 1991 season, but still started the first game of the season for San Diego. Richard showed promise in his rookie season, and finished fourth in voting for the AP Defensive Rookie of the year, losing to Mike Croel, and made the All-Rookie team. In 1994, he had four interceptions, including a 99-yarder for a TD, the longest one of the season, and came in second in the league for interception return yards and interceptions returned for a TD, as he helped the team to Super Bowl XXIX. Following that season, he was signed by the Washington Redskins as an unrestricted free agent on March 10, 1995, and played with the Redskins from 1995 to 1998. In 1995, he was named Defensive Player of the Week in week 14. Richard retired following the 1998 season. He had 21 career interceptions returned for 352 yards and two touchdowns in 124 starts.

Richard returned to the University of Texas and earned his degree in Applied Learning & Development in 2020. He currently resides in Hawkins, Texas where he owns a 300-acre cattle ranch.

NFL career statistics Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds TD Lng FF FR Yds TD 1991 SDG 15 14 59 59 0 0.0 2 5 0 3 1 0 0 0 1992 SDG 14 14 79 79 0 0.0 3 26 0 20 0 1 0 0 1993 SDG 16 16 77 77 0 2.0 1 -2 0 -2 1 1 0 0 1994 SDG 16 16 79 69 10 0.0 4 224 2 99 1 0 0 0 1995 WAS 16 16 94 82 12 0.0 3 24 0 24 0 1 0 0 1996 WAS 16 15 106 82 24 0.0 3 47 0 42 1 0 0 0 1997 WAS 16 16 126 98 28 0.0 4 28 0 23 0 1 0 0 1998 WAS 15 15 62 46 16 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 124 122 682 592 90 2.0 21 352 2 99 4 5 0 0