Alabama Football: Crimson Tide Top 10 All-Time Rushers
By Ronald Evans
No. 8 Trent Richardson (2009, 2010, 2011)
- Career Rushing – 3,130 yards on 540 carries
- Career Yards-Per-Carry average of 5.8 yards
- 2011 All-American, SEC Offensive Player of the Year and Doak Walker Award winner
Because Trent Richardson did not achieve the NFL stardom expected of him, there is a tendency to forget how great Trent was as a college running back. Until the 2011 season, Richardson played second fiddle to Mark Ingram. Even in that secondary role, he gained 751 yards in 2009 and 700 yards in 2010. In the 2009 and 2010 seasons, with Ingram and Richardson, Alabama Football had the most powerful running back duo in college football.
A statement of the impact Trent Richardson made for the Alabama Crimson Tide is that he finished third in the 2011 Heisman voting.
Richardson was a weight-room warrior. At 225 pounds, Richardson was reported to have bench-pressed around 475 pounds and around 600 squat pounds, while in Tuscaloosa. Some of the detractors of his NFL performance claimed Richardson got too big and too muscle-bound for his frame and lost quickness and agility as a result.
As a junior for the Crimson Tide, Richardson rushed for 1,679 yards.
Trent Richardson played three NFL seasons for the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.