David Reed Richards (born April 11, 1966) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who played nine seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. A standout at Highland Park High School in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Richards was the first lineman to be named Parade Magazine's National High School Player of the Year in 1983. In college, he was 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 ...

selection at guard as a sophomore at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

. The following season, he earned All-SWC honors as a tackle at SMU. Prior to his senior season, the NCAA placed SMU's football program on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

and Richards transferred to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, for his senior season. A fourth-round selection of the San Diego Chargers in the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 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 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

, Richards spent five seasons with the Chargers (1988–1992), starting at right tackle (1988) and right guard (1989–92) in all 80 games. In April 1993, Richards signed a three-year, $5.1 million agreement to play for the Detroit Lions. He started 15 games at left guard for the Lions during the 1993 season before signing a two-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons in August 1994. With the Falcons, Richards started 26 games during the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In 1996, he started six games for the Falcons before he was released by the team. He was claimed on waivers by the New England Patriots in October 1996. Today, Richards lives in Dallas, where he works in commercial real estate.

References

1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Staten Island Players of American football from New York City American football offensive guards SMU Mustangs football players San Diego Chargers players Detroit Lions players Atlanta Falcons players New England Patriots players {{offensive-lineman-1960s-stub