The Cal 100: No. 15 -- Les Richter
We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.
No. 15: Les Richter
Cal Sports Connection: Richter played offense, defense and place-kicker for the Cal football team in 1949, 1950 and 1951 and was a consensus first-team All-America selection in 1950 and 1951. He was the valedictorian of his senior class at Cal.
Claim to Fame: An eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Richter is one two former Cal players to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was once traded for 11 players, an NFL record. He played offense, defense and place-kicker in the NFL, and he is a member of the Motorsports of America Hall of Fame.
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You could make a case that Les Richter was the best football player ever to come through Cal. It’s quite a statement, and supporters of Tony Gonzalez, Aaron Rodgers, Brick Muller or Rod Franz might dispute it.
But let’s look at the facts.
Richter is the only Cal player to be a two-time consensus first-team All-America selection, gaining that honor in 1950 and 1951. (Others have been named All-America more than once by one or two outlets, but Richter is the only one named twice by virtually all the major outlets that select All-America teams. Brick Muller was named All-America twice when Walter Camp was the only official selector in the early 1920's.)
Richter played both offense and defense at Cal, and although he was named All-America as a guard, his better position was linebacker. He was also the place-kicker for the Golden Bears.
Richter played for the 1949 and 1950 Cal teams under Pappy Waldorf that went unbeaten in the regular season but lost in the Roe Bowl both seasons.
Les Richter (67) with Pappy Waldorf and Johnny Olszewski. Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics
Richter was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982.
Richter also played rugby at Cal, and to put a cherry on top Richter was the valedictorian of the Cal class of 1952, graduating with a degree in business administration. So much for the dumb-jock stereotype.
Richter was the second overall pick in the 1952 NFL draft, which was held on January 17. He was drafted by the New York Yanks, but two weeks after the draft, the Yanks were moved to Dallas and became the Dallas Texans. Richter said he would retire rather than play in Dallas.
So on June 13, 1952, before Richter had played a single pro game, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for 11 players. That is still an NFL record for the most players traded for just one player. And Richter did not even play a glamour position such as quarterback or running back. (Most of the players traded to the Texans for Richter did little in the NFL thereafter, but one of the 11 traded players, Dick Wilkins, led the Texans with 32 receptions, 416 receiving yards and three touchdown catches in 1952.)
Richter’s NFL career was delayed for two years while he fought in the Korean War as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Despite being away from the game for two years, Richter became an immediate star in the NFL as a linebacker in 1954. He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first eight seasons. The only year he was not named to the Pro Bowl was his ninth and final NFL season of 1962, when he became the Rams’ starting center after the regular starter was lost for the season in the second game. He was still a starter as at linebacker that year and was also the team’s place-kicker.
Richter intercepted 16 passes during his NFL career, and he converted 29 field goals and made 90 percent of his extra-point attempts.
Richter never missed a game during his nine-year NFL career, and completed one game despite suffering a broken cheek, and played another with broken ribs.
During his final four NFL seasons, Richter was also a high-ranking official at Riverside International Raceway, first as executive director and later as president and general manager, a job he held until 1983. He later served in a number executive auto-racing positions, including chairman of the board for the International Race of Champions and head of operations for NASCAR.
He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009, one year before he died at the age of 79.
In 2011, he became the first former Cal player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was joined by Tony Gonzalez in 2019.
The Cal 100: No. 16 -- Alex Morgan
Cover photo of Les Richter courtesy of Cal Athletics
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