Ray Richards
| Position: | Tackle, guard, end |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth: | July 16, 1906 |
| Place of birth: | Liberty, Nebraska |
| Date of death: | September 18, 1974 (aged 68) |
| Place of death: | La Habra, California |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Pawnee City (NE) |
| College: | Nebraska |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
|
|
| As coach: | |
|
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season: | 14–21 (.400) |
| Player stats at PFR | |
| Coaching stats at PFR | |
Raymond W. Richards (July 16, 1906 – September 18, 1974) was an American football player and coach on both the college and professional levels, including head coach for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL).
Richards was an All-American lineman at the University of Nebraska from 1927 to 1929, then joined the NFL's Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1930. During his playing days, he became known for a notorious move that has since been outlawed: the "lift", in which Richards used his elbow to hit the opposing center as he snapped the ball. Moves such as that helped him in his off-season pursuit of wrestling, an endeavor that saw him travel across the country competing in matches.
Richards played two seasons with the Yellow Jackets until the team disbanded in 1931, then he shifted to Chicago, where he played another two seasons with George Halas's Bears. In 1934, he moved on to play a season with the Detroit Lions, who had just moved from their previous home in Portsmouth, Ohio. After a final season with the Bears the next year, Richards headed west to serve as a player-coach for two seasons with the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the fledgling American Football League, helping the team finish undefeated during his second year.
On April 5, 1937, he was appointed line coach at UCLA, where he served under three different head coaches over the next decade. In an era marked by the looming specter of World War II, Richards was part of two Bruin squads that competed in the Rose Bowl. He resigned on December 11, 1947, and took a similar position in 1948 at nearby Pepperdine University.
One season working with the Waves' linemen led to Richards's promotion to head coach on April 26, 1949. After two seasons in that capacity, he was let go on January 19, 1951 due to budget cuts, but found work seven weeks later as an assistant with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams. During his first year working under close friend Joe Stydahar, the team captured the NFL championship, but then dropped a first-round playoff game in 1952 after Stydahar was fired early in the season.
...
Wikipedia