Counting Down Cal's Top-50 Transfer Athletes: No. 31 Chris Richards

We rank the mid-career arrivals in Berkeley who have had the greatest impact on the Golden Bears

Chris Richards | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

The transfer portal era in college athletics seems like it’s been with us forever. Likewise, most fans can recall less turbulent times when transfers happened, they simply didn’t look like a stampede to the 1849 California Gold Rush.

We thought it was time to rank the best transfers Cal teams have attracted, most of them in recent seasons but also including a few OGs from yesteryear. 

We limited our ranking to transfers from four-year colleges.

Here is the next athlete in our countdown: 

31. Chris Richards

Sport: Football

Arrival year at Cal: 1985-86

Previous school: Oklahoma (Richards made the traveling team at Oklahoma as a freshman in 1984, but saw limited action and did not carry the ball).

Contributions at Cal: 

— After sitting out the football season while attending junior college in 1985 following his exit from Oklahoma, Richards became eligible in the fourth game of the ’86 season and totaled 404 yards rushing and receiving. He rushed for 101 yards in the Bears’ 50-18 los at Washington.

— As a junior in 1987, Richards became the Bears’ primary ball carrier in coach Bruce Snyder’s first season. He led the Bears with 668 rushing yards (4.3 per carry) and scored eight touchdowns.

— The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder had three games of at least 100 rushing yards that season, including 106 yards vs. San Jose State and 101 vs. Minnesota. Richards added 88 rushing yards and a TD vs. Oregon State and Stanford.

— He was voted the team’s Most Inspirational Player and Most Courageous Player in 1987.

— As a senior and team captain, Richards rushed for a team-best 729 yards (4.5 per carry) and five TDs. His rushing total was the sixth-best in the Pac-10, helping him earn All-Pac-10 honorable mention and pocket the team’s Most Courageous Player award for the second year in a row.

— Richards had two more 100-yard rushing games as a senior, giving him six for his career. He piled up 152 yards and a touchdown at Washington, where the Bears went home with a 28-27 defeat after building a 24-3 halftime lead.

Standout performance: Richards helped the Bruce Snyder coaching era get off to a good start, dashing 75 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play for scrimmage against Pacific. He wound up with a career-high 155 yards as the Bears crushed the Tigers 42-0.

Impact on his team: Richards was a significant player in the Bears’ climb to respectability in Snyder’s early years. He led the team in rushing his final two seasons, totaling 1,666 yards and 14 TDs over his Cal career. The Bears went 5-5-1 in 1988 after four consecutive losing campaigns.

Previously on our list: 

No. 32: Thomas Kilgore

No. 33: Liam Bell

No. 34: Trevor Davis

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