Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga wasn’t the only person won over by Browns running back Trent Richardson’s performance on Sunday.
Jim Brown liked what he saw from Richardson as well. Brown created a tempest in a teapot when he called Richardson “ordinary” before the Browns made him the third overall pick of the draft in April. Brown said he’d apologize if he was wrong about Richardson, something he isn’t doing yet but he’s started to see some of what others saw in Richardson heading into the draft.
Brown told Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he was impressed by Richardson’s 23-yard touchdown catch in Sunday’s loss to the Bengals. Richardson turned a short catch into a touchdown by weaving through several would-be tacklers on the way to the end zone, showing moves that left Brown impressed with the younger running back’s moves.
“I only saw highlights of the game, but the one he scored on the pass showed an ability that they drafted him for,” Brown said. “I said, ‘well, they’ll tackle him now,’ but they didn’t. Then I said, ‘well, he will go down now,’ but he didn’t. He kept doing that. It was impressive.”
If Brown watched the entire game, he would have seen Richardson making an impact on the ground as well as through the air. It might not have been enough to get him to change Brown’s mind completely, but it was certainly a good start toward that end.