Richardson Invited To All-American Bowl

Gamecock commitment Quintin Richardson has been invited to play in the Inaugural Offense-Defense All-American Bowl Game in Fort Lauderdale, FL on January 4, 2007. Richardson is an offensive lineman from Spring Valley High School in Columbia, SC, and has received a 4-Star ranking by Scout.com, acknowledging him as one of the top 50 offensive lineman in the country.

Richardson has missed much of his senior season due to a knee injury, and is hoping to play in his first regular season game this weekend for Spring Valley against cross town regional rival Dutch Fork.

The All-American Bowl will be televised at 5:00 pm by CSTV, and will be played at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

"I am excited for the opportunity to play in this game,” Richardson said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be able to play with my injury and all. My heart’s desire is really to help the Sandlappers play North Carolina for the Shrine Bowl, but my chances look slim since I haven’t played much. But my philosophy is never say never. Hopefully with these last few games I can show the coaches enough that they feel I can contribute to the team."

"Man, I'm just glad to be back. It has been frustrating sitting on the sidelines wanting to contribute to the team. I was actually cleared to play last week but (Spring Valley Head) Coach Noonan and Coach Armstrong wanted to be cautious and just see how things go.” He continued. “I thought when I first injured it, I was only gonna be out two to three weeks. But I probably hindered that some because I was trying so hard to get back, I really didn’t give it time to heal. I was walking around instead of elevating it. I thought walking and trying to do some of the things I was pretty much use to would heal it a little bit quicker. My mom, coaches, grandparents, godfather, and my doctor of course were telling me to stay off of it. I just wanted to play so bad. But I’m ready now."

Richardson will be playing tight end Friday night just to get back into the swing of things. The four star lineman proved he had the talent and athletic ability to also play the tight end position at several camps he attended last summer, showing his ability there to run the routes and catch the ball in addition to playing on the line. When asked if he would just be solely blocking or did also he expect to catch any passes, he said, "I dont know yet. I can definitely catch the ball. I proved that at the Nike camps. I’m just gonna do whatever the coaches ask me to. This is not about Quintin Richardson, it’s about helping the Vikings get to state."