Retire in Peace, Trent Richardson

The third-overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft, Trent Richardson, is officially a bust. He is joining the ignominious ranks of JaMarcus Russell, Ki-Jana Carter, Ryan Leaf, and Heath Shuler.  Like the second season of True Detective or the 2008-2013 iteration of 90210, Richardson was nowhere close to replicating the on-field magic of his earlier years once he was drafted into the NFL.

Just when you think Robert Griffin III’s drama with the Washington Redskins is the saddest story coming out of the first-round of the 2012 draft, Richardson is given $600,000 and his walking papers from his third NFL team.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark called Richardson the worst running back of all time, implying he was overrated. While that is debatable, the Cleveland Browns thought they were getting Bruce Springsteen and instead realized they had accidentally acquired John Cougar Mellencamp, a mediocrity masquerading as a future legend.

Let’s take a look back on the career of Trent Richardson.

Before he was unceremoniously cut from the Oakland Raiders and before he disappointed the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts, Richardson was a freak of an athlete with prodigious speed, agility, vision, and productivity at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Fla.

Enjoy the musical stylings of Pastor Troy in “About to Go Down” while you watch the phenom that was Young Trent.

Richardson ran for 407 yards in a single game against Tate high School his junior year, finishing that season with nearly 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns in eight games. His senior year he tallied 2,100 yards and 25 touchdowns.

A five-star recruit, Richardson was the No. 2 running back on Rivals.com prospect rankings in 2009, behind only Bryce Brown who, spoiler alert, ended up being a seventh-round draft pick and has had a lackluster career in the NFL (with a handful of very isolated blindingly bright spots.)

Speaking of blindingly bright, it certainly does seem that Richardson would have an amazing career and be the second coming of Barry Sanders.

The prophets spake, “And, lo, out of the balmy environs of Pensacola came a savior, a gift to the land of boiled peanuts. He will take to the fields as a warrior in battle and befuddle his enemy with his speed and craftiness.” The Book of Richardson 8:10-12

Welcome to Tuscaloosa, Trent.

Richardson’s career continued at the University of Alabama where he played under Nick Saban from 2009 to 2011. By September 2010, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, having filled in competently for Mark Ingram, a Heisman trophy winner who was sidelined due to injury. Of Richardson’s 118-yard performance in one of his first college games, Ingram said in 2009 via AL.com, “I’m not surprised at all. He’s been doing that all fall camp.”

After Ingram left Alabama for the NFL, Richardson became Alabama’s starter in 2011. He finished that season with 1,679 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns, an SEC record at the time.

For now, though, the prophesy from the Book of Richardson appeared to be fulfilled. (All the people even said, “Amen.”)

At this point if you had said, “This guy will be a bust in the NFL and only average 3.3 yards per carry,” you would be laughed out of the state of Alabama and your football-discussion privileges would have been revoked. Spoiler alert: You would have been right.

Richardson had impressive film coming out of Alabama.  See for yourself:

His draft report was also insanely positive: “Richardson is as compact and coiled an athlete as the position has seen since Adrian Peterson. Richardson is explosive, powerful and balanced.”

Not everyone was high on Richardson, however.  Recently ESPN analyst Ryan Clark claimed his head coach with the Steelers, Mike Tomlin, said he did not want to draft Richardson: “He said, ‘Because he doesn’t dish out punishment, deliver punishment, he just absorbs punishment.’ He’s like, ‘He won’t make it in the league.'”

Also around the time of the draft in April 2012, Jim Brown called Richardson “ordinary,” saying, “I’m not overwhelmed with him. The problem is that he is ordinary. I think he’s ordinary.”

Still, Richardson found an NFL home with the Browns as the third-overall pick in the 2012 draft after they traded picks with the Minnesota Vikings. This pleased Mike Mayock who had said at the time, “I’ve been banging my head for months that the Browns need to draft Trent Richardson… They’re saying this kid is so special, not only do we believe in him at four, but we’re going to give away an extra pick to get a running back in the big-boy division… What does this kid do for you? He keeps you in the game, he shortens the game, and he gives you a chance to win in the fourth quarter.”

Cleveland was so sure he was the answer to all of their dysfunction and losing ways that they offered him a four-year, $20.4 million contract with a $13.3 million signing bonus. Do Cleveland fans even allow themselves to get crazy hopeful, or do they protect themselves from disappointment?

Unfortunately for Richardson, the NFL draft predictions would not be fulfilled and Mayock’s words would appear just a little bit off-base (and by “a little bit,” I actually mean “WAY off base.”) While he wasn’t a total bust immediately, by the start of the 2013 season it was clear that Richardson was not living up to the hype.

After the second game of his sophomore season, the Cleveland Browns got crafty, as they are wont to do, and struck a deal with the Indianapolis Colts. In exchange for a 2014 first-round draft pick, the Colts picked up Richardson hoping he could fill in for an injured Vick Ballard.

For a few minutes, it seemed Richardson had found his NFL home and would finally be able to make an impact as he had done in high school and for Alabama. His very first play as with the Colts went for a touchdown. After that, however, Richardson struggled as he had in Cleveland. By December 2013, he was demoted. Then, 2014 sucked as well. There’s really no other way of saying it.

Finally, what should have been the deal-of-the-decade for the Colts, ended up being a bust. (And, I’m not sure if the Colts took solace in the fact that the Browns pretty much squandered the two first-round picks they had for the 2014 draft.) Richardson was released by the Colts.

Hope springs eternal in the NFL, so I’m sure when the Oakland Raiders picked up Richardson, both Richardson, the Oakland front office, and the fan base thought he could be a real difference-maker and prove that he was better than his 3.3 yards per carry average.

Alas! Stricken with pneumonia and then failing to perform to expectations, Richardson was cut. Good news for Richardson, he has $600,000 he can keep. The bad news is, this appears to be the death of his career.

“And though a path opened up in the sea of people, the man called Trent chose the path of most resistance, and,  hark!, was thwarted by the enemy.” The Book of Richardson 10:36-38

Retire In Peace, Trent Richardson.