After AAF collapse, Trent Richardson said he's received calls to play in NFL, XFL
Trent Richardson made the most of his short time in the Alliance of American Football earlier this year, quickly mounting a league-best 12 touchdowns through eight games.
The former Alabama standout was one of the most high-profile players on the Birmingham Iron last season, and even led the team to a playoff berth. They never made it that far, however, as the league collapsed in less than two months.
But hopefully, Richardson said, that brief showing was enough to turn heads in the NFL — a league he’s still trying to get back to.
“I’ve gotten a few phone calls, but you never know about the NFL,” Richardson said, via the Pensacola News Journal. “Hopefully I put enough out there to show I can still move and play. I’m doing this for myself and my kids.”
Richardson was taken with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, though his career in the league didn’t quite take off. He ran for just more than 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns in three years in the NFL, compiling just 519 yards in his final season 2014 with the Indianapolis Colts.
He has attempted to break back into the NFL on multiple occasions, spending time with the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens during the 2015 and 2016 offseasons, respectively, and even played briefly with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League in 2017 — though appeared in just four games.
While it was unusual for him, Richardson said he actually enjoyed the nearly two-year break from the game. Between his CFL stint and AAF stint nearly two years later, he said he was able to spend a lot of quality time with his family.
“To be out of football a couple years, I had transitioned from not only being a football player, but to being a full-time dad,” Richardson said, via the News Journal. “You know, I was a travel softball dad and traveled to little league football games to help coaches.”
Only time will tell if the 29-year-old will get another shot in the NFL. He isn’t, though, limiting himself to that league alone.
If that doesn’t work out, he’s more than willing to pursue the XFL — Vince McMahon’s football league that’s set to re-launch in 2020. They’ve already called him about joining, too.
“A lot of people have been calling me. The XFL has been calling me. The NFL has been calling me,” Richardson said, via the News Journal. “The opportunity is there and if the NFL doesn’t come through, then definitely (I’ll pursue the XFL).”
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