Browns: Former player Trent Richardson signed on to play in Mexico

Former Browns running back Trent Richardson is trying to restart his football career by going down to the Liga Futboal Americano de Mexico federation.

The Cleveland Browns selected Trent Richardson with the 3rd overall draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Despite playing a solid rookie campaign for the Browns with 950 yards and 11 touchdowns, the Browns traded him to the Colts shortly after the start of the 2013 season. It was one of the worst trades in NFL history, as not only did the Colts give up a first-round draft pick for Richardson, who’d go on to do very little in the NFL after his rookie year, the Browns then wasted that first-round draft pick.

Richardson tried to revive his career with the CFL but a custody issue ended up causing him to leave the Saskatchewan Roughriders after just four, very productive games. He’d then sign with the AAF, where despite having a poor yards-per-carry stat, Richardson led the team with 11 rushing touchdowns in just eight games.

The AAF failed because of mismanagement and the XFL never really came calling, though there were rumors of interest. Now the former first-round pick is once again trying to revive his career across the border but this time going south and not north.

Richardson will be suiting up for the Caudillos de Chihuahua, one of the most well-known teams in the biggest football league in Mexico; Futbol Americano de Mexico (aka FAM)

The FAM is competing with a rival Mexican football league, Liga Futbol Americano de Mexico (misreported in the original article as the league home for the team from Chihuahua), in a football “arms race”, and even eliminated their cap so they can get one up on the Liga.

Richardson isn’t just the centerpiece for the Caudillos (translated to military/political leader), but is the biggest name in the entire FAM. The hope for both is that Richardson brings some eyes to the product and Richardson, at just 30 years old, can get a final shot at a bigger league.

Richardson was never unathletic, or unmotivated, but was simply bad at seeing holes as they developed in the offensive line. That’s part of the reason why Richardson was coy with where he intended to play, telling the press (via American Football International) ;

"My role will be — we’ll have to let y’all know. Breaking news will come out soon. But I know when I do get here, I do want to win, and I do come to win fans. And I’m going to bring a lot with me as far as my mindset and teaching and helping bring awareness to the community, to the team, and what this team’s about.We’ve talked about everything in our meetings that we’ve been having. So who knows? I might play. I might be a part of making decisions or helping out bringing awareness or I might be a part of D – all of the above. So we’ll see."

Richardson always seemed like a good guy and a tough player, if he plays well in Mexico, I’d love for him to try out for the Browns. Kareem Hunt will likely price himself out of Cleveland eventually, and no one really thinks D’Ernest Johnson is a “guy” you can build around. Richardson coming back as a backup in Cleveland, to help with the short-yardage stuff, that would be awesome.

If he’s worth the roster spot, that is.

Good luck to Richardson and the FAM, because the more football there is, the more players get to build a career. A successful Mexico league is a win/win for everyone who loves football.