Angelo Richardson: What If?

August 27, 2007 by Nasser Kompani

The story of Angelo Richardson is not a pleasant one to remember. Richardson was a lightening quick receiver, but not undersized like Santonio Holmes. With 19 receiving TD’s and 1,334 receiving yards, he set the single season records for his junior college. There were great expectations for him moving on to the next level. He was also a former teammate of Sam Keller and would be rejoining him at ASU. Tragically, his football career ended shortly after signing his LOI. Richardson was shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist-down, supposedly by someone jealous of his success. That part will remain a mystery as no one has been arrested for the shooting that night in which two others also were injured.

The reason Richardson has been in my thoughts recently was the realization that the ASU football program could have been much different than it is today had that shooting never occurred. For good or bad, we’ll never know, but I wanted to explore some of the things that may have changed with him as the receiver.

Would Sam Keller keep the starting job?
It was never announced why exactly Keller was replaced by Carpenter, but if it wasn’t anything serious related to his partying then things may have been different. Having the chemistry that former teammates have with one another would have shown up on the practice field and maybe it wouldn’t have worried Coach Koetter as much when Carpenter threatened to transfer. The Keller-Richardson duo could have been very strong and then the next year, a more prepared Carpenter would be able to take his place.

Carpenter’s Season and Koetter’s Job Saved?
If Koetter’s decision was not affected, Richardson could still have made a big difference last season. Without their big recruit, ASU’s receiving corps was awful. You had a baseball player, inexperienced true and red shirt freshman and no one stepped up as a #1 receiver. Even at the Juco level, Richardson still had some type of college experience and success. It is impossible to believe that he could have fully taken over Hagan’s spot, but he had the best chance out of anyone that was on the current team. There’s no doubt that Carpenter is an incredible talent. If he only had a good receiver to go with TE Zach Miller, it could have made all the difference last year.

Dirk Koetter’s offense was all about passing and he just couldn’t do it last year because of the lack of talent at the receiver position. He handled the quarterback situation very poorly and it blew up in his face, but if Richardson and Carpenter did well together, he would have looked very good. Of course, this is probably not a positive thing as Dennis Erickson is a far better coach. It’s just something to think about.

There is a chance that nothing would have changed at all if Angelo Richardson had been unharmed that night, but you never know. It’s amazing how so many things can change with only one event. I would like to here some more opinions on this subject. Do you believe things would have changed?

Posted in asu sun devils, football