A dream realized, an opportunity seized. Quinton Richardson is making the most of his opportunity to play football at the University of Washington.
Richardson lives in Renton and attended O’Dea High School. He’s the second player from Renton in the Huskies’ secondary, joining Kennedy graduate Nate Williams. Richardson spent last season redshirted and earned the Brian Stapp Special Teams Scout of the Year Award for his work with the practice squad.
Teams can redshirt players for one season. A redshirt means the player can’t play at all that season (unless the redshirt is removed, then the player loses that season of eligibility) and he preserves all four years of eligibility.
Richardson was recruited as a safety, but he made the move to cornerback before this season and he’s shown such rapid growth that he’s starting at left corner for the Huskies this season.
“It’s a big transition,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m having fun and loving what I do. It’s just helping me know the game a little better.”
After the defensive debacle last season when the Huskies allowed the most points in the Pac-10, Richardson’s answer to the pressure on the defense and head coach Ty Willingham is simple. “We’ve just got to do our job. Just execute and do what we’re supposed to do.”
Much has been made about the Huskies’ schedule this season. With a killer opening stretch featuring three nationally ranked teams — Oregon, BYU and Oklahoma — the UW has one of the toughest schedules in the Pac-10. Richardson welcomes the challenge and only wishes Oklahoma star running back Adrian Peterson was still around so he could get a “knockout hit.” Richardson lived in Oklahoma when he was younger.
Richardson will also get to showcase some of his playmaking ability by returning kickoffs this season. The task of catching a kick and running upfield while 11 athletes sprint, full speed, trying to hit you as hard as they can might seem daunting to some, but not to Richardson.
“I love being back there,” he said. “It’s real comfortable. I get a lot of open field to work with. I just want to show these guys what I can do.”
Becoming a Husky has been a dream for the self-described “lifelong Husky fan.” Richardson’s mom graduated from the UW, so he just wanted to carry on the tradition.
“I’ve always looked up to this school,” he said. “Seeing Marcus (Tuiasosopo) run up and down the field. Seeing Reggie (Williams), I just always wanted to be a part of this.”
Richardson caught the Huskies’ eye while playing running back and linebacker at O’Dea, where he piled up the accolades. The Seattle Times named him a first-team all-state linebacker after his senior season. He was the Metro League Mountain Division’s defense co-MVP in 2006. Associated Press first-team all-state. Rivals pegged Richardson as the No. 6 overall prospect in the state of Washington. The high school accomplishments go on and on, but coming to a Pac-10 school to play football, everything started over and became more challenging. Richardson said the single biggest change between high schol and college was the speed.
“Game tempo, game tempo, game tempo. The first practice that I came out to last year, I didn’t think it was going to be that fast. The play was over in like three seconds. You’ve got to really know what you’re doing out there.”
After a year redshirted and a game started, it appears Richardson is getting an idea of what he’s doing out there.
While the UW defense didn’t get off to a good start in the season opener at Oregon (44-10 loss), Richardson did make some great plays in his first game. Richardson grabbed an interception (the only turnover the Husky defense forced), recorded three tackles and broke up a pass. The interception was a key point in the game, stopping the Ducks and leading to a UW touchdown drive that drew the score to 14-10.
Richardson and the Huskies play next against BYU Saturday in the home opener.
Adam McFadden can be reached at amcfadden@reporternewspapers.com
