Richard Earns Harvard Business Certificate

by Tom LaMarre

Running back Jalen Richard of the Las Vegas Raiders knows football won’t last forever, and he plans to be ready when his playing days are over.

The 26-year-old Richard, who signed a two-year contract with the Raiders in February, was accepted into Harvard Business School’s the Crossover Into Business program that is designed for professional athletes.

Recently, Richard completed the program and received a business certificate from the school.

“Just being in the league and getting this new (contract), it brought more things to my mind and that I should try to learn more about money, more about business,” Richard said in a story on www.Raiders.com.

“I saw that the Harvard opportunity was there through the Crossover program and I just couldn’t pass it up, but it was also a selection process.”

Harvard Business School created the Crossover Into Business program, which designed for professional athletes interested in learning more about what they might do when their playing careers end, in 2017.

Richard applied and was accepted along with 39 other athletes from around the world.

“I had to go out to Harvard (in February) and do an on-campus kickoff, where we actually sat in on a business class,” Richard said. “We were able to sit in on the class with the students and go through our own mock class as if we were in the full program. We did some exercises, got to meet the director, Ms. Anita, and also got to pick out two mentors that we would leave the campus with on an e-mail and phone call status.

“Those mentors were meant to help you throughout the course of the semester and also any other questions you had, whether it’s dealing with business or anything that those mentors’ expertise was in.”

In addition to his on-site experience, Richard was required to complete three case studies and present a final case study to his mentors and the Harvard Business School director, Ms. Anita, at the end of the semester.

For his final, Richard presented a case study on NBA legend Dwyane Wade and his investments outside sports, which reportedly was met with high praise from the judging committee.

“The Dwyane Wade study was about his level in the company of Stance, with the socks, because he’s a big contributor to that, so we had to come up with a way how we’d restructure his contract with Stance,” Richard explained.

“ … He’s on the backend of his career with his shoe company he has through the China importer, and his stance over there. I learned a lot about D-Wade through this case study.”

The Crossover program gave Richard the incentive he needed to start thinking more seriously about his goals outside and after football.

Moving forward, he has much he would like to accomplish, but isn’t quite ready to act yet because he hopes to have plenty of football left to play. However, Richard and his business manager started a marketing company during the offseason.

“I’ve got different ideas, but I haven’t committed completely to anything yet,” Richard said. “I did start this offseason my own marketing company, Privé, so I have that going on.

“I’m continuing to try to grow in that with my partner Rafik Cromwell, who’s my manager and also handles my marketing, so we put this together to try and change the realm of how football players are doing their marketing right now.”

The 5-8, 205-pound Richard has played a key backup role for the Raiders since they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Miss in 2016, after he rushed for 1,098 yards and 14 touchdowns in addition to catching 30 passes for 284 yards and two scores as a senior.

In addition, he graduated with a degree in exercise science.

In four seasons with the Raiders, Richard has been a versatile option for quarterback Derek Carr, especially on third down. He has rushed for 1,170 yards and three touchdowns, while catching 160 passes for 1,380 yards and three more scores.

Now, Richard is versatile off the field, too.