Ninth in a series of articles profiling individuals who will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame this year. The hall of fame banquet will be held Friday.

BY DOUG CRISE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

He wore a smile in a time

of activism and was

quiet when others spoke fiercely of equality. Jon Richardson never wore the hat of a trailblazer and never carried himself like a man waving the flag for equal rights. Right up to 2002, when he died of a heart attack at 50, Richardson was a man who got along.

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And chiefly because of that, Richardson was a history maker.

A posthumous inductee into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Richardson was the first black scholarship athlete to play football at the University of Arkansas.

This was in 1969, when the initial explosion of the civil rights movement had faded but the ripples were still felt throughout the South. Richardson, a running back who graduated from Horace Mann High School in Little Rock, already had his path cleared by Darrell Brown, who walked on to the Razorbacks in 1966 and officially broke the football program’s color barrier. But just because southern colleges were finally opening their gates to black student athletes didn’t mean they were always doing it willingly. And even if the Arkansas coaching staff welcomed the chance to recruit black football players — Richardson’s family says this was the case — it didn’t mean all members of the Razorbacks fan base were along for the ride.

When Richardson was brought aboard by then-Razorbacks Coach Frank Broyles, the racial inequity that had stood firm at many of the south’s colleges had loosened. At Arkansas, Brown had already been a member of the Razorbacks football squad, and Almer Lee was in the process of becoming the first black athlete to letter on the basketball team.

But to say that Richardson was welcomed with open arms is pushing it.

James Richardson, one of Jon’s two brothers and six surviving siblings, said he remembers attending one of Jon’s early games and hearing a fan say “that little n *** er can run.”

James Richardson also said that threatening letters made their way to his brother during his early years in Fayetteville.

But those who vocally opposed the idea of a black scholarship football player failed to account for one thing: Jon Richardson wasn’t preoccupied in the least with the idea of being a black scholarship football player. He just wanted to be a football player.

“He was special like that,” said Grover Richardson Jr., Jon’s brother. “There was a lot of pressure on him, being black. But his spirits were always high.”

Grover Richardson described his brother as nonconfrontational, someone who was far too friendly and laid back to give serious thought to the difficulty of his circumstances.

Richardson clicked instantly with his white teammates and coaches, thanks in part to his ready smile and ease in conversation. Being a good football player helped, too.

Though never a star — he backed up Bill Burnett in 1970 and Dickey Morton in 1971 and 1972 — Richardson proved he belonged on the field, finishing his career with 1, 237 yards and 19 touchdowns. Richardson ran for a career-high 154 yards and two touchdowns in a 18-10 victory over Oklahoma State in 1971, and he led the Razorbacks in kick returns as a sophomore and senior.

What’s less clear is whether the pleasant personality was natural or was a defense mechanism toward those who didn’t want Jon Richardson in Fayetteville.

“He just kept a good face on,” Grover Richardson said. “There were things you couldn’t avoid. When you tread new ground, the pressure’s there.”

And make no mistake about it, Jon Richardson was standing firmly on uncharted territory. Any doubt about that was cleared up for Grover Richardson during his own college years, which he spent at historically black Southern University of Baton Rouge.

Students would come up to Grover and ask about his brother’s most recent game and when the Razorbacks might next be on television. The message to Grover was clear: What your brother is doing matters, and to a lot of people.

James Richardson has a theory on why his brother stayed chipper even when faced with ugliness. To lash out at your detractors, James Richardson said, would be to give credence to their preconceived notions.

“Back in those days, you had to keep your head,” James Richardson said.

Never was that a problem for Jon Richardson.

“Jon was a gentleman,” said Richardson’s father, Grover Richardson Sr.

And as Grover Sr. is quick to point out, his son’s reception in Fayetteville wasn’t entirely frosty. Both Broyles and assistant Wilson Matthews ingratiated themselves with the Richardson family, beginning in Jon’s junior year in high school when they determined he had the grades, character and football skills to handle the scrutiny that would come with the scholarship.

The family was similarly embraced when they made the drive up to Fayetteville to watch Jon play.

“Boy, they treated us like royalty,” Grover Sr. said.

Both in his play and in his disposition, Jon Richardson paid the Razorback program back for its faith. Along the way, he set the mark for the black scholarship athletes who would follow.

“He was always a Razorback,” Grover Jr. said. “He was loyal. It was extremely hard, but the Razorback program wanted him there and he was willing to take the challenge.” Jon Richardson at a glance AGE Died at 50 on Jan, 19, 2002 HOMETOWN Little Rock HIGH SCHOOL Horace Mann COLLEGE Arkansas NOTEWORTHY Was an all-state baseball player at Horace Mann and served as class president.... Father, Grover Richardson Sr., played football and ran track at Little Rock’s Dunbar High School.... Brother, Grover Richardson Jr., was an All-America football player at Horace Mann and played at Southern University in Baton Rouge.... Also was recruited by Texas and UCLA.