Alabama SI Cover Tournament: Still on the Hot Spot (Richard Todd) vs. Opening Statements (Trent Richardson)

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Ok, we didn't plan it this way. 

Granted, it does seem almost a little cruel that Richard Todd's cover is in the Joe Namath Regional. It's even more so since the headline reads "Still on the hot spot: Jets quarterback Richard Todd battles on against the Namath legend."

At least he isn't matched up against Namath in the Alabama SI Cover Tournament.

We're midway through the first round while wrapping up the first round of the Namath Regional. The Bear Bryant Regional is on deck. 

If you haven't been participating, please join in as BamaCentral is holding a 48-field single-elimination tournament to determine the best Alabama Sports Illustrated cover.

Vote on Twitter (@BamaCentral) or Facebook (@AlabamaonSI). The voting goes 24 hours for each matchup and the result added to the original post on BamaCentral.

First round

Joe Namath Regional

Game 8: Still on the Hot Spot (Richard Todd) vs. Opening Statements (Trent Richardson)

Still on the Hot Spot (Richard Todd) 

Story headline: Wall Street Richard

Subhead:  Jet Quarterback Richard Todd is not a Broadway Joe off the field, bank on that, but to be one on it he will have to win a Super Bowl

Excerpt (by Douglas S. Looney): In retrospect, it was logical that Namath and Todd were lumped together. Both came out of the University of Bear Bryant (as did Super Bowl winners Ken Stabler and Bart Starr), and Todd signed on with Namath's agent, Jimmy Walsh. They threw balls to each other on the Alabama practice field when Todd was an undergraduate, and if Namath hollered, "Keep your elbow up," Todd took it to heart. In a conversation two days before he died last January, Bryant said, "Joe was more skillful than Richard, but I'd sure like to have either one of 'em back even on their bad days."

Todd recalls, "When I came to New York, I was in awe and scared to death of the city. First of all, Namath was here. There were things I'd never had, like Chinese food and French food and all that. But hanging around Joe was fun." Once, when asked if Namath had influenced his social behavior, Todd replied, "Well, I liked girls even before I met Joe." Quips like that made the papers. Two dangerous forces were converging. Todd was trying to act like Namath and the press was trying to make him seem like Namath. But the fans were quick to notice he didn't play like Namath, at least the Super Bowl Namath.

Opening Statements (Trent Richardson)

Story headline: In With the New

Subhead: Tim Tebow is a pro, and so is a Texan named McCoy. The college football season kicked off last week minus many familiar names, but in their place emerged several fresh faces who are ready for their close-ups

Excerpt (by Austin Murphy): Top-ranked Alabama, likewise, is loaded at that position, and remains so even after the Tide's biggest scare. In a practice five days before the season opener, Ingram tried to turn the corner on a sweep. Spun around by a defender, the reigning Heisman winner suffered slight cartilage damage in his left knee. Ingram was in surgery the following morning. While the junior was definitely out for 'Bama's opener, Saban would not foreclose the possibility that he might return for Penn State.

"When Mark went down, I was shocked," says Richardson. "I was sad for him. But I still have to go out there and play the football I know how to play."

If he lost any sleep over Ingram's absence, he was probably in the minority in 'Bama Nation. The truth is that no team in the country, with the possible exception of the Carolina Panthers, is better equipped to withstand the loss of its feature back. Notwithstanding Ingram's possession of a certain 25-pound bronze doorstop, there's not a lot of drop-off from him to Richardson, an impossibly buff, 5'11" 220-pounder out of Pensacola, Fla.

"Great player, great person," Jimmy Nichols reminisced last week. Nichols coached Richardson at Escambia High, which happens to be the alma mater of Emmitt Smith. "Emmitt had the ability to run over you or run away from you," says Nichols, "and Trent has those same abilities." In truth, the coach adds, "There's not many I put in [Smith's] class, but Trent's one of 'em. He's bigger, faster and stronger than Emmitt." 

Result

Opening Statements (Trent Richardson) def. Still on the Hot Spot (Richard Todd) 83-17 percent