Stanley Palmer Richard (born October 21, 1967), nicknamed "the Sheriff", 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

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for eight seasons 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) for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. 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

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

, earning first-team

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 in 1990. In the NFL, he was the starting strong safety for the Chargers in

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

Early life

Richard was born in

Mineola, Texas Mineola is a city in the U.S. state of Texas in Wood County, Texas, Wood County. It lies 26 miles north of Tyler, Texas, Tyler. Its population was 4,823 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was incorporated as the railroads arr ...

and played football at nearby Hawkins High School in Hawkins, where he was selected as an all-state player.

College career

Richard played

at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

from 1987 to 1990, where he was the team's MVP, UPI's Southwest Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, All-Southwest Conference, a UPI All-American Honorable Mention and an AP First Team

safety in 1990. He helped lead the Longhorns to a conference championship and a #3 ranking going into the Cotton Bowl where they had a shot at the National Championship. In 2004, he was inducted into the Texas Longhorn's Hall of Honor.

Professional career

Richard was drafted ninth overall by the

in the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 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 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

and played with the Chargers from 1991 to 1994. He was a late holdout coming into the 1991 season, but still started the first game of the season for San Diego. Richard showed promise in his rookie season, and finished fourth in voting for the AP Defensive Rookie of the year, losing to Mike Croel, and made the All-Rookie team. In 1994, he had four interceptions, including a 99-yarder for a TD, the longest one of the season, and came in second in the league for interception return yards and interceptions returned for a TD, as he helped the team to

. Following that season, he was signed by the

as an unrestricted free agent on March 10, 1995, and played with the Redskins from 1995 to 1998. In 1995, he was named Defensive Player of the Week in week 14. Richard retired following the 1998 season. He had 21 career interceptions returned for 352 yards and two touchdowns in 124 starts. Richard returned to the University of Texas and earned his degree in Applied Learning & Development in 2020. He currently resides in Hawkins, Texas where he owns a 300-acre cattle ranch.

NFL career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Stanley 1967 births Living people People from Mineola, Texas American football safeties Texas Longhorns football players San Diego Chargers players Washington Redskins players

Early life

College career

Professional career

NFL career statistics

See also

References