Former Jet bangs drum to get Chiefs Fans Fired up

During halftime of the Jets’ recent game in Kansas City, the Chiefs inducted fullback Tony Richardson into their Ring of Honor.

- Dan Leberfeld

Richardson played for the Chiefs from 1995-2005. When his name was unveiled on the ring that circles the stadium below the upper deck of Arrowhead, it was a little overwhelming to him.

“When I first saw it, my knees buckled a little bit, Richardson said. “Coming into the league as an undrafted free agent and leaving the Dallas Cowboys practice squad — the number of times I ran out of that tunnel and saw Len Dawson, to see Jan Stenerud…Derrick Thomas. To see all those names, the guys that I played with, and obviously, some guys that I looked up to. To have my name up there — Christian Okoye — the list goes on and on. It just doesn’t even seem real.”

It was a special weekend for Richardson because many Chiefs legends were in town for the celebration, and were introduced to the crowd on the field before the ceremony.

“Yes, that’s what makes it special,” Richardson said. “Some of these guys, my teammates, my legends, I haven’t seen these guys in years and seeing the number of guys that came back is very humbling — to see these guys come back to celebrate this huge accomplishment. For me personally, I always consider myself as an extension of the offensive line, so everybody that I had a chance to work with, and block for and different things like that came in the hall with me today.”

Richardson’s induction into the Chiefs Ring of Honor was done during the Jets game because the fullback also played for the Jets (2008-10).