Les Richter

Les Richter

refer to caption

Les Richter and Bruce Long in 1959
No. 67, 48
Position: Linebacker, Guard, Kicker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1930-10-26)October 26, 1930
Place of birth: Fresno, California
Date of death: June 12, 2010(2010-06-12) (aged 79)
Place of death: Riverside, California
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 238 lb (108 kg)
Career information
College: California
NFL draft: 1952 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2
Career history
Career highlights and awards
  • 8× Pro Bowl (1954–1961)
  • 2× First-team All-Pro selection (1955, 1956)
  • 3× Second-team All-Pro selection (1957, 1958, 1959)
Career NFL statistics as of 1962
Fumble recoveries: 12
Interceptions: 16
Points: 193
Player stats at NFL.com

Leslie Alan Richter (October 26, 1930 – June 12, 2010) was an American football linebacker who played for the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). He also served as the head of operations for NASCAR and president of the Riverside International Raceway. Richter played in eight Pro Bowls. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

Career

After graduating from the University of California in 1952, where he played guard and linebacker, he served in the U.S. Army for two years. He was a first-round draft choice of the NFL's New York Yanks, the 2nd pick overall, in the 1952 NFL Draft. The Yanks folded before the 1952 season, and the Dallas Texans (NFL) assumed the rights to Richter. They traded him to the Los Angeles Rams for eleven players, the 2nd largest deal ever made for a single player. The largest was in 1953, when Cleveland and Baltimore made a 15-player trade. One of the Browns traveling to Baltimore was defensive back Don Shula.

During his nine years with the Rams, Richter intercepted 16 passes and scored 193 points which included 1 touchdown, 106 extra points, and 29 field goals. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982. On August 25, 2010 he was nominated as a senior candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2011 along with former Washington Redskins linebacker Chris Hanburger

After retiring from football, Richter had been involved with auto racing in a variety of positions. He had been vice-president of special projects for International Speedway Corporation, chairman of the board for the International Race of Champions, and senior vice president of operations for NASCAR.[1]

As a lieutenant with the United States Army during the Korean War, Richter was buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.[2] At the time of his death, Richter was working at the Auto Club Speedway, owned by a sister company to ISC.

On February 5, 2011 it was announced that he had been elected to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame along with Deion Sanders, Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Ed Sabol, Shannon Sharpe, and Chris Hanburger.

References

  1. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCH/is_5_31/ai_103563733/
  2. ↑ Les Richter at Find a Grave
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