Trent Richardson: People asked for trips to Disney World, then fussed
It's easy to take shots at Trent Richardson, the former Browns running back taken third overall in 2012
By
Ryan Wilson
•
2 min read
It's easy to take shots at Trent Richardson, the former Browns running back taken third overall in 2012, who was traded to Indianapolis a year later, and was out of the NFL altogether by 2015. His career stats: 46 games, 2,032 rushing yards, 3.3 yards per carry, 17 touchdowns.
The Raiders signed Richardson last offseason, but they cut him in August. He also had tryouts with the Bills, Saints and Broncos, but nothing came of it. So he waited. And waited, and waited some more.
Then, last month, the Ravens said they were interested, and last week, coach John Harbaugh said that the two sides had an "unofficial agreement" in place.
"It's in Trent's court," Harbaugh told reporters, via AL.com. "(Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome) and Trent have talked a lot. I text with Trent all the time. He's keeping me posted on his training. I'm planning on Trent being a Raven right now. I'm kind of excited about it.
"Talking to him on the phone, I really like him. I'm excited. Here's a high-caliber, high draft pick guy that seems like he's really motivated and wants to do well. So Trent, keep working, man. Keep working hard. See you in a couple of weeks."
So what went wrong for Richardson, who was one of college football's most prolific backs while helping Alabama to a national title? For starters, the culture in Cleveland was 180 degrees from what he experienced in Tuscaloosa. And as a 22-year-old he was ill-equipped to handle it.
"It's very easy to get lazy in the NFL -- not having everything scheduled and not having everything like at Alabama where it was so structured," Richardson told AL.com. "We had study hall or we had to get a workout in in between classes and had five classes a day. It was just so structured. In the NFL, everything's on your own."
Then there was the money. He earned more than $18 million in his brief NFL career, and that led to the inevitable: people looking for financial help from the guy who made good.
There were also the family members and friends constantly asking for money to the point, Richardson said, that it became mentally exhausting and took away from his focus on football.There were countless texts and calls each day. Richardson bought cars for people, somehow got stuck with paying for five funerals that were each at least $12,000.
There were even week-long trips to Disney World.
"And people still had the nerve to complain about the trip," Richardson said.
But that's all behind him and his focus is on becoming something more than a camp body, cut before the regular season begins.
"Hands down, this is the happiest I've been since I was at Alabama," Richardson said. "What's different now is that I got rid of all the people that were around me, got rid of all the issues and worrying and the people keeping my mindset off the right thing to where I'm just back grinding and just trying to work every day to get better."
Richardson, who weighed as much as 238, is down to 218 and relishing what could be his last shot at NFL redemption.
"Coach [Harbaugh] was like, 'You've got to seize this moment because you might not have another chance.'" Richardson said. "But I was thinking, 'I'm not going to need another chance.' I feel like this is going to be the place for me."
