Trent Richardson
Trent is one of the nicest cats you’ll ever meet, It was chill to hang out with Trent for a minute at the 2012 ESPY Awards Party, he is excited to get on to the field and break some records.
-Keith Middlebrook
trent-richardson
College career
Richardson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Alabama, where he played for coach Nick Saban‘s Alabama Crimson Tide football team from 2009 to 2011.
[edit]2009
In his first year at Alabama, Richardson stepped in quickly for the departed Glen Coffee, and shared time at the tailback position with Roy Upchurch and Mark Ingram, Jr.[8] When recruited, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban called Richardson, “the real key to the class,” and “an outstanding player at a position that a young player can contribute next year.”[9]
Richardson was named SEC Freshman of the Week for Week 2 [10] and Week 4.[11] Richardson was also named to the 2009 SEC All-Freshman team alongside Barrett Jones andNico Johnson.[12] He also contributed significantly in the 2010 BCS National Championship with 109 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.[13] For the season he had 145 carries for 751 yards rushing and 8 touchdowns.[14] He also had 126 yards receiving on the season.[14]
[edit]2010
Richardson started the first two games of the season with Mark Ingram sitting out due to an injury. In the season opener, he had 10 carries for 66 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 3 receptions for 46 yards. The following week against Penn State, he ran for a career-high 144 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. He also had 4 catches for 46 yards. Trent was named Co-SEC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.[15]
For the season he had 112 carries for 700 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns and 266 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns.[16] Richardson also has 634 kick return yards with a touchdown.[16]
[edit]2011
With the departure of Mark Ingram to the NFL, Richardson took over the starting role at running back. During the season Trent ran for over 100 yards in nine games. He tied Shaun Alexander with six consecutive 100 yard rushing games. He scored two or more touchdowns in seven games. He set a career high against Ole Miss running for 183 yards and four touchdowns. In the Iron Bowl, Trent ran for a new career high of 203 yards. He won the Doak Walker Award becoming the first player from Alabama to win.[17] He finished third in theHeisman Trophy voting behind eventual winner Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck.[18] In the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, Richardson rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown to secure his second national championship with the Crimson Tide.[19]
For the season Trent had 1,679 rushing yards, breaking Mark Ingram’s record for most rushing yards in a season, and 21 touchdowns.[20] He also had 338 receiving yards with three touchdowns.[20] On January 12, 2012, Richardson declared for the 2012 NFL Draft, thus forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.[21] At the time of his announcement, he was projected as a first round pick and the top running back prospect in the draft.[21]
[edit]College career statistics
| Year | GP–GS | Rushing | Receiving | Kick Returns | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Gain | Loss | Net | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G | Rec | Rec–Yards | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G | No. | Yards | Avg | TD | Long | ||
| 2009[14] | 14–0 | 145 | 784 | 33 | 751 | 5.2 | 8 | 52 | 53.6 | 16 | 126 | 7.9 | 0 | 17 | 9.0 | 1 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| 2010[16] | 11–2 | 112 | 719 | 19 | 700 | 6.2 | 6 | 65 | 53.8 | 23 | 266 | 11.6 | 4 | 85 | 24.2 | 24 | 634 | 26.4 | 1 | 91 |
| 2011[20] | 13–13 | 283 | 1740 | 61 | 1,679 | 5.9 | 21 | 76 | 129.2 | 29 | 338 | 11.7 | 3 | 61 | 26.0 | 3 | 66 | 22.0 | 0 | 24 |
| Total* | 38-15 | 540 | 3243 | 113 | 3,130 | 5.8 | 35 | 76 | 75.9 | 64 | 730 | 10.4 | 7 | 85 | 20.3 | 28 | 720 | 25.7 | 1 | 91 |
[edit]Professional career
[edit]2012 NFL Draft
Entering his junior season, Richardson was consensually regarded as the best running back available in the 2012 NFL Draft, projected to go as high as the No. 4 pick.[22][23][24] His strong performance on the field, replacing Mark Ingram, solidified his status. In October 2011, Sports Illustrated′s Tony Pauline ranked him as the No. 3 prospect on his midseason draft board, noting his “outstanding combination of quickness, power and speed.”[25] After undergoing a minor knee surgery in February 2012, Richardson did not participate in drills at the 2012 NFL Combine.[26] He later also decided to skip workouts at the Alabama Pro Day on March 7.[27] Richardson held his own Pro Day on March 27.[28]