Les Richter
 Les Richter and Bruce Long in 1959 | |||||||||
| No. 67, 48 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker, guard, kicker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 26, 1930 Fresno, California | ||||||||
| Died: | June 12, 2010 (aged 79) Riverside, California | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | California | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1952 / round: 1 / pick: 2 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 1962 | |||||||||
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Leslie Alan Richter (October 26, 1930 – June 12, 2010) was an American football linebacker who played for the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). He also served as the head of operations for NASCAR and president of the Riverside International Raceway. Richter played in eight Pro Bowls. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Career
After graduating from the University of California in 1952, where he played guard and linebacker, he served in the U.S. Army for two years. He was a first-round draft choice of the NFL's New York Yanks, the 2nd pick overall, in the 1952 NFL Draft. The Yanks folded before the 1952 season, and the Dallas Texans (NFL) assumed the rights to Richter. They traded him to the Los Angeles Rams for eleven players, the 2nd largest deal ever made for a single player. The largest was in 1953, when Cleveland and Baltimore made a 15-player trade. One of the Browns traveling to Baltimore was defensive back Don Shula.
During his nine years with the Rams, Richter intercepted 16 passes and scored 193 points which included 1 touchdown, 106 extra points, and 29 field goals. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982. On August 25, 2010 he was nominated as a senior candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2011 along with former Washington Redskins linebacker Chris Hanburger
After retiring from football, Richter had been involved with auto racing in a variety of positions. He had been vice-president of special projects for International Speedway Corporation, chairman of the board for the International Race of Champions, and senior vice president of operations for NASCAR.[1]
As a lieutenant with the United States Army during the Korean War, Richter was buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.[2] At the time of his death, Richter was working at the Auto Club Speedway, owned by a sister company to ISC.
In 2011 he was elected to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame along with Deion Sanders, Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Ed Sabol, Shannon Sharpe, and Chris Hanburger.
References
- 1930 births
- 2010 deaths
- All-American college football players
- American football linebackers
- American football offensive linemen
- American football placekickers
- American motorsport people
- Auto racing executives
- Burials at Riverside National Cemetery
- California Golden Bears football players
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Deaths from aneurysm
- Los Angeles Rams players
- Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductees
- NASCAR people
- New York Yanks players
- Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Sportspeople from Fresno, California
- West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame inductees
- Western Conference Pro Bowl players