Cyril Joseph Richardson (born December 27, 1990) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

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 gu ...

in 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 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

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

, earning

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

honors in 2013. He was selected by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the fifth round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

Early life

A native of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Richardson attended L. B. Landry High School in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

as a freshman on the

junior varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

. Richardson left New Orleans with his parents, Albert Joseph and Anita Richardson, during

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

in 2005. They moved to the suburbs of

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, where Richardson attended Baker High School for his sophomore year. A late-season addition to the Baker football team, he rarely played before the family moved to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, in October 2006. In Fort Worth, Richardson enrolled at

North Crowley High School North Crowley High School is a public high school in Fort Worth, Texas. It administers grades 9–12 and is part of the Crowley Independent School District. The school's colors are royal blue and silver. The school's mascot is the Panther. The ...

, where he joined the football varsity but did not play during his junior season for academic reasons. Finally returning to the field as a senior, Richardson was named first-team All-District 3-5A in 2008. North Crowley advanced to the first round of the UIL playoffs, losing 21–0 to

Luke Joeckel Luke Tobias Joeckel (; born November 6, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 2013 NFL draft ...

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

. Richardson graduated in 2009 from North Crowley High School. Regarded as a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Richardson was ranked as the No. 90

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

prospect in the class of 2009, which was headed by

D. J. Fluker Danny Lee Jesus "D. J." Fluker (born March 13, 1991) is an American professional football offensive tackle. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft. He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Ti ...

and

Mason Walters Mason Walters is an American football offensive lineman and is a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin. Walters is considered one of the best offensive guard prospects of his class. Walters currently works as a Senior Analyst for Real ...

. He drew limited interest from several Big 12 schools, and eventually signed with Baylor.

College career

After being

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a freshman in 2009, Richardson played in 12 games in 2010, with four starts on an

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

that also included Danny Watkins at left tackle and Robert Griffin at right tackle. Richardson totaled 63 knockdowns and averaged coach's grade of 80.5. As a sophomore in 2011, Richardson replaced Watkins at left tackle, starting all 13 games of the season to protect quarterback

Robert Griffin III Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He ...

's blindside. As a junior in 2012, Richardson moved back inside to left guard and started 12 of 13 games, as redshirt freshman Spencer Drango took over as left tackle. Richardson posted a team-best average coaches grade of 89.8 percent and team-high 105 knockdowns on the season. He was selected 2012 Big 12 Conference Offensive Lineman of Year by league coaches, and also earned various All-America honors (second-team:

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; third-team:

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

) and unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection. As a senior in 2013, Richardson anchored Baylor's offensive line at left guard, in an offense that averaged 76.4 plays in their first five games, piling up 714.4 yards per game. He earned mid-season

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors by ''

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

'' as the only selection from an unbeaten Baylor Bears team.

Professional career

Pre-draft

At one point, Richardson was considered one of the top prospects for the

. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com named him one of college football's “most physical players.”

Buffalo Bills

Richardson was selected by the

in the fifth round, 153rd overall. He played in 12 games as a rookie, making four starts. On September 4, 2015, he was released by the Bills. On September 6, 2015, the Bills signed Richardson to their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. On January 4, 2016, Richardson signed a futures contract with the Bills. He was released by the Bills on September 2, 2016.

Chicago Bears

On November 15, 2016, Richardson was signed to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 3, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

San Antonio Commanders

In September 2018, Richardson signed with the

San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home games a ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

Seattle Dragons

In October 2019, Richardson was selected by the

Seattle Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons were a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The Sea Dragons competed in the second incarnation of the XFL (2020), XFL. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment as the Seat ...

of the XFL in the 2020 XFL draft. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on February 11, 2020. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

References

External links

Baylor Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Cyril 1990 births Living people Players of American football from New Orleans All-American college football players American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Baylor Bears football players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bears players San Antonio Commanders players Seattle Dragons players