Aldo Osborn "Al" Richins (November 2, 1910 – April 19, 1995) was a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wingback who played one season with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He is distinguished as being the first

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

to play in the NFL.

Early life and college

Aldo Osborn was born on November 2, 1910, in

Colonia Díaz Colonia Díaz was the first permanent Mormon colony in Mexico, located along the Casas Grandes River in the northwest of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a ghost town bordered on the east by the Sierra Madre Occidental. It was the neare ...

, Mexico. He attended West High School in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, participating in football, baseball, basketball, and track. He received "Athlete of the Year" honors in 1929. He was later inducted into the West High School "Hall of Fame. Richins played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, and was a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

from 1932 to 1934. He received the school's most outstanding athlete of the year award in 1934.

Professional career

In September

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, he signed with the

of the

. He played in one game for the Lions during the 1935 season before being released. In 1946 at 36 years old, he played for the Salt Lake Seagulls of the Pacific Coast Football League. He attempted one extra point that year.

Personal life

After football, he worked for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office for eight years. He later owned a motel and a restaurant. He died on April 19, 1995, in

Midvale, Utah Midvale City is located in the heart of Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. Midvale's population was 36,028 according to the 2020 United States Census. Midvale is home to the Shops at Fort U ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richins, Aldo 1910 births 1995 deaths Players of American football from Salt Lake City American football running backs Mexican players of American football Utah Utes football players Detroit Lions players Sportspeople from Chihuahua (state) Pacific Coast Professional Football League players