Golden Richards

John Golden Richards was an American professional football player. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1973 NFL draft. Richards caught a 29-yard touchdown pass in the 1978 Super Bowl that helped the Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos 27-10.

He was traded in September 1978 to the Chicago Bears but due to injury his contract wasn’t renewed beyond the 1979 season. He signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos but suffered another season-ending injury and was placed on the injured reserve list in August. He retired in 1980.

Richards played college football for Brigham Young University and BYU-Hawaii (his senior year). During high school, he received all-state honors in three sports: football, basketball, and track.

Richards dabbled in television upon retirement and was part of the “ESPN Outdoors” television show.

Shortly after retiring, Richards began a long and painful journey of alcoholism and drug addiction. “It was well-documented that he had difficulties with opioids and pain pills they gave him playing football,” his brother Doug Richards said. “In the NFL, they handed them out like aspirin.”[1] This led to a plethora of legal issues, but he never shied away from his problems and eventually became sober for the last decade of his life, his brother said.[2]

He was married and divorced three times and had two sons.

Richards was born on December 31, 1950, and died on February 23, 2024. He donated his brain to the Boston University Medical Center for research in studying the impact on concussions (CTE) on the brain. With the hope to benefit medical science and future generations of athletes.