Freshman wide receiver Teddy Richardson hoping to make his name with the FIU Panthers
FIU freshman wide receiver Theodore “Teddy” Richardson III never met his father, the man whose name he inherited.
But Theodore Richardson Jr., who knew he had a son on the way before he died in a tragic car accident, had been thrilled by the prospect of meeting the boy.
“[Theodore Jr.] was more excited than I was about the pregnancy,” said Teddy’s mother, Arneatra Bean.
“I was thinking, ‘We are young. How are we going to support this kid?’ But (Theodore Jr.) was very optimistic.”
Theodore Jr. and Bean met as seniors at Miami Central High. Theodore Jr. — who played wide receiver at Central — was 20 years old when he died in the wreck on Nov. 11, 2001. He was in the passenger seat at the time.
Bean, who was 19 and three months pregnant, was not in the car when she lost her boyfriend. She got the horrible news the next morning at 7 a.m.
“It was traumatic,” Bean said, “a very dark time.”
Fortunately, there have been brighter days since. It took a village, but Richardson got love and support from many people, including his maternal grandfather, John Bean, and his paternal uncle, Julius Coats.
At age four, Richardson started playing football for the Liberty City Warriors, but he was far from an immediate hit. He was the one getting hit.
“He was the quarterback,” Arneatra Bean said. “He finally said: ‘They’ve hit me 100 times. I’m done.’”
Three years later, Richardson was signed up for football again, this time with the Northside Panthers. On this occasion, Richardson was ready, leading his team to a championship.
At age nine, he was switched to wide receiver while playing for the Northwest Boys Club Falcons, and that’s been his position ever since.
Last season as a senior, Richardson caught 55 passes for 687 yards and six touchdowns, leading Booker T. Washington to a 13-2 record and the Class 4A state title.
That title made Bean feel extra special because it was a validation in the sport she knew Richardson’s father would have wanted him to play.
“Teddy followed what was his destiny,” Bean said.
However, in the middle of that triumphant season, Richardson dealt with tragedy as his beloved uncle Coats died of heart failure on Oct. 7.
Richardson missed a couple days of school but did not miss any games.
“Teddy called him ‘Pop’. He considered [Coats] his dad,” said Bean, who teaches third-grade math at Parkview Elementary in Miami Gardens. “When [Coats] died, my son got silent. He wasn’t eating as often. But it motivated him, too.”
Richardson, a 5-11, 180-pounder, used that motivation to have the aforementioned championship senior season.
Even so, he didn’t have many Division I scholarship offers, choosing FIU over Toledo, Rhode Island and Southern Mississippi.
FIU had the advantage of having assistant coach Tim Harris Jr. on staff. The Harris and Richardson families are, in essence, family.
Richardson, who had a 3.1 grade-point average at Booker T., graduated early and has already enrolled at FIU. He is interested in studying sports management, and it’s possible he could become a coach one day.
For Richardson, the pain of growing up without a father and then losing his uncle will never go away. Then again, Richardson has shown tremendous determination and inner strength just to get this far.
“It hurts,” Richardson said of the losses he and his family have suffered. “But once they pass away, it gives you extra motivation to get to that next level.
“I want to do it for them.”
FIU men’s basketball
It was a rough week for FIU’s men’s basketball team (17-10 overall, 8-6 Conference USA). The Panthers lost both of their games this past week, going 0 for 2 on the road. FIU’s Devon Andrews averaged 23.0 points in those two losses — by three points at Louisiana Tech and by eight at Southern Miss.
Baseball team gets a sweep
FIU’s baseball team opened its season by sweeping three games from Fordham. Among the highlights for FIU were the performances by starting pitchers Logan Allen and Tyler Myrick.
Allen, C-USA’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year and a second-team Baseball America All-American, struck out 11 batters in five innings, allowing two runs. Myrick, pitching for the first time in 632 days following elbow surgery, pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.