Stanley Richard

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Stanley Palmer Richard (born October 21, 1967),^[1] nicknamed "the Sheriff", is an American former professional football player who was a safety for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, earning first-team All-American honors in 1990. In the NFL, he was the starting strong safety for the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.

Richard was born in Mineola, Texas and played football at nearby Hawkins High School in Hawkins, where he was selected as an all-state player.^[2]

Richard played college football at the University of Texas from 1987 to 1990, where he was the team's MVP, Southwest Conference's defensive player of the year and an All-American safety in 1990.^[3] 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.^[4]

Richard was drafted ninth overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 1991 NFL draft and played with the Chargers from 1991 to 1994.^[5] He was a late holdout coming into the 1991 season, but still started the first game of the season for San Diego.^[6] 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 Super Bowl XXIX. Following that season, he was signed by the Washington Redskins 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.

• List of Texas Longhorns football All-Americans
• List of Los Angeles Chargers first-round draft picks