Richardson will continue Stanford legacy

An unexpectedly tension-filled Friday culminated in the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for 2016 Palma High School quarterback Jack Richardson.

Richardson is a double Stanford legacy. His father, Kevin, played linebacker on The Farm in the 1980's. His mother, Teresa, is in the school's Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as a volleyball player. And just for good measure, one of Richardson's high school coaches at Palma is former Cardinal player and coach Chris Dalman.

So Richardson has Stanford ties aplenty. And after receiving a walk-on invitation from the Cardinal football program, Richardson turned his focus to continuing his family's Farm legacy.

There was one rather significant hurdle to overcome, however - gaining admission to Stanford. Richardson applied Restrictive Early Action to the school; admissions decisions were originally expected to be released on Tuesday, Dec. 15th.

"I woke up (Friday) morning and I had no idea that the decision was coming out (on Friday)," Richardson said. "I had assumed it was going to come out on the 15th because that's what its says on the application. But I heard, it was in fourth period theology and I overheard some guys talking that Stanford admissions had tweeted that the decision was coming out at 4 p.m. I didn't really know what to think. But I just kind of went through my day and once I got out of school I had about two hours to wait for the decision to be posted online. So I was like, gosh, what do I do to kill time?

"So I took a nap. Luckily I woke up at 4 o'clock and I'm like, 'Oh, thank God I don't have to think about this anymore.' So I go to log on to the portal to check and see what I got and the dang thing doesn't let me log in for 10 minutes because I kept entering the wrong password. So I had to go reset my password. That was about a 10-minute process. I was stressing over that. Finally i got logged in and I read the first sentence. I was like, 'Oh, what a relief. It was just awesome.' I showed it to my family and that was fun."

The moment was also an emotional one for former Cardinal football player Kevin Richardson and the entire family.

"I showed (my father) the letter and I think he cried more than I did when he got the news," Richardson said. "It was really emotional. The whole family is so fired up. It's a really, really humbling experience and I'm blessed to have this opportunity."

Will compete to continue the Richardson/Smith Stanford legacy. #StanfordDNA pic.twitter.com/dEBx6J15py- Jack Richardson (@jrichqb) December 12, 2015

Though Richardson's schedule somewhat limited the number of Stanford games he was able to attend over the last few years, he's still quite familiar with The Farm. He was a frequent visitor to Stanford Stadium in his younger years, and he did manage to take in the Cardinal a couple of times this season.

"I went to a few games throughout the regular season," Richardson said. "It's obviously kind of hard during football season when I have a game on Friday and on the weekends you want to use that time to watch film and stuff. but we were able to make it to a few regular season games. I went up with my mom a few times - it was a great experience. But I'd say before high school we used to go to games every weekend because we had a lot more time back then. That was a fun experience, too, seeing the team develop from that aspect. I guess you could say I'm Stanford blood. I've watched the team since a really young age. It's a dream come true, for sure."

Among Richardson's favorite Stanford football memories? Watching the Cardinal win the 2013 Rose Bowl and getting to take a photo with the Stanford Axe as a child.

Stanford-pride even 14 years ago. #FarmBred #TheAxe pic.twitter.com/bKzJ4DaYHD- Jack Richardson (@jrichqb) December 12, 2015

Richardson emerged as a Stanford football prospect in his own right during the latter stages of his high school career.

"I've been going to their summer camp since freshman year," Richardson said. "We went last year and we talked to Coach Bloomgren about a potential preferred walk-on spot. At that point in the recruiting process I wasn't quite sure what I was going to get from that and also from other schools. I was still trying to figure out where I fit in this whole thing. But ultimately I knew the best way to take care of that was just keep focusing on summer workouts, getting better, getting good grades in school, things like that. Once the season started it was a lot easier and something to kind of keep my mind off of recruiting, just focusing on the games and things like that.

"I came to the Oregon game during Stanford's regular season and that was kind of the point, I had applied and everything and they said, 'Hey, we're really happy to have the application in.' From that point we kind of knew we were close. It was just a matter of waiting for the decision from admissions."

In addition to Stanford, Richardson has received interest from some Ivy League programs, some Mountain West schools and some Division 3 options. But he will continue his football career on The Farm.

"I have been talking to a few other schools but yeah, I guess you could say the walk-on spot has been offered and I would say yeah, I'm committing to this walk-on," Richardson said.

Richardson notified members of Stanford's coaching staff about gaining admission to the school on Friday.

"They said, '(We're) proud of you, enjoy the upcoming days,'" Richardson said. "It's really humbling to be a part of such a great football program and a great school."

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