Whitley's Believe It Or Not: Rest assured, Richardson will not leave a mess in Indianapolis
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Anthony Richardson is cleaning up in that department.
A story filtered out last week about Richardson at the NFL’s rookie orientation program. A truckload of potential draftees had dinner at a hotel banquet room, according to an Indy radio station.
The players made a mess and left. All except one, that is.
Richardson stayed and started bussing tables before the cleanup crew arrived. Troy Vincent, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, approached the rookie from Florida.
“You don’t need to do this,” he told Richardson.
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“We left this room in unacceptable condition, and it’s not right for us to expect the staff to clean it all up,” Richardson said.
He stuck around and helped until the last worker was finished.
Sheesh, I can think of about a dozen Gainesville restaurants that really could have used AR on their staff the past few years.
He was tied up in more high-profile pursuits, of course. He did a good enough job to be the No. 4 pick of the NFL Draft and be in line for a $35.5 million contract.
It’s too early to tell whether Richardson will live up the hype about AR the Athlete. As for AR the Person, he’s already Rookie of the Year. ...
Stud of the Week: Florida’s 4X400-meter relay team, which ran the fastest time in NCAA history (2:57.76) at the SEC championship meet.
Stud Emeritus: Robert De Niro, who announced the birth of a daughter. De Niro is 79. …
Nuggets owner zealously guards his parking spot
Dud of the Week: Stan Kroenke/Denver Nuggets. Rookie Christian Braun said he was fined $15,000 in the preseason for leaving his idling car in the owner’s parking spots while fetching workout gear from his locker. Braun negotiated it down to $2,500, but he had to wash Kroenke’s fleet of Bentleys.
Dud II: Angela Rodriguez Pam, Spain’s Secretary of State for Equality. She accused a women’s road race of sexism after it awarded the winner a food processor that had been donated by a sponsor. She then issued arrest warrants for every Spaniard who gave their mother a toaster for Mother’s Day. …
Dud III: Memphis guard/wannabe gangster Ja Morant, for getting suspended again for brandishing a pistol on Instagram. When it comes to guns, the only thing he's really good at is shooting himself in the foot. ...
Bo Jackson revealed last week he’s had the hiccups since last July and will soon undergo a medical procedure to try to cure them. “I have done everything - scare me, drink water upside down, smell the (butt) of a porcupine, it doesn’t work,” he said on the “McElroy and Cubelic” radio show.
Oddly enough, that’s the same therapy regimen Auburn boosters have used to try to find a coach they like …
If a men’s road race in Spain awarded a lawn mower to the winner, would the Secretary of State for Equality say it was sexist? ...
Georgia’s football team last week declined a White House invitation for June 12th, though Kirby Smart insisted it had nothing to do with politics. June is a big recruiting month, and Smart would rather smell a porcupine’s butt than miss a photo shoot with a prospective four-star cornerback. …
Congratulations to Bobi, the world’s oldest dog. The Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo (that’s a breed) turned 31 last week. Bobi’s title is in dispute, however, since Guinness World Records reportedly might now recognize Robert De Niro as the world’s oldest dog. …
The Denver Nuggets have fined Nikola Jokic $500,000 for using Stan Kroenke’s executive bathroom. …
Daniel Snyder bought the Washington Redskins/Commanders for $800 million in 1999. He set an NFL record for sexual harassment settlements, fraud investigations and overall stupidity. He sold the team last week for $6 billion.
Sigh. In his next life, Snyder should have to return as an employee of Daniel Snyder. …
If Georgia had gone to Washington D.C., Joe Biden and Stetson Bennett III would have set the White House record for Combined Age of President and Visiting Quarterback at 105. …
Heston, Morant love their guns
What do Charlton Heston and Ja Morant have in common? Both proclaimed they'd give up their guns when someone pried them "from my cold, dead hands."...
This Just In: Spain’s Secretary of State for Equality has accused the Madrid Triathlon of sexism after it awarded His and Her watches to the winner of the non-binary division. …
If Bobi visits the White House, he and Joe Biden would combine to be 777 dog years old. …
That’s about all the space we have for this week’s Whitley’s Believe It or Not. Till next week, if you go to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist and see a porcupine in the exam room, it might be time to get another doctor.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Colts' Anthony Richardson is already the working man's NFL rookie of the year
