St Louis Sports Radio

Richards' wild treck .. from CIA to MU radio booth

Finally, less than a month after his 52nd birthday, Howard Richards will enter the profession he began preparing for while in college three decades ago. And his route to a sportscasting job has taken a twist that might be unprecedented.

Phase One of his path is fairly routine. He protected the quarterback as an All-Big Eight offensive lineman at Mizzou and in the NFL after being a first-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 1981. Many sports commentators have tread the field-to-booth road. But it was Phase Two that isn't on many (any?) sports broadcasting résumés. After his playing days, he continued protecting the man calling signals at a much more important level — the head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Now Richards is back in private life and is set to begin working in the field he wanted to be in all along — sportscasting. He is about to replace John Kadlec, who retired in January, as the analyst on University of Missouri football radio broadcasts.

"To be able to come back and be part of Mizzou football on this level, I couldn't have found a better opportunity to sort of begin my broadcasting career again,'' said Richards, who was recruited out of Southwest High in St. Louis by Kadlec — an MU assistant coach at the time. "This opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.''

The latter statement could apply to his previous job, in which the longest-running assignment he had was on the VIP protection staff for four CIA directors.

"It was interesting, to say the least,'' Richards said.

He didn't intend to have that kind of a career. When his NFL days concluded in 1987 after a short stay in Seattle, he returned to Mizzou to take the last courses he needed for a degree in communications, with an emphasis in radio, television and film. He also helped out at a Jefferson City television station.

Richards shot video of Mizzou home games in 1988, then went to the station to edit the tapes. He'd either discuss the game on the air or give the video to whomever was on camera. On Fridays, he'd cover high school football, and on Mondays he would recap the Sunday NFL games as well as the MU contest and some key college games.

Willie McGee and Vince Coleman enjoy trip back to St. Louis

Compiled by Staff)  “Wow, there’s a lot of media here,” said former Cardinal basestealer Vince Coleman to Cardinals public relations director Brian Bartow, “Back when we were here it was just Rick Hummel and Rob Rains.”

Coleman and teammate Willie McGee returned to St. Louis on Friday night for Willie McGee Bobblehead day. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game to Coleman, with Ozzie Smith serving as the umpire.

Times have changed for Coleman, McGee and the other Cardinals from the 1980s.Hummel, of the Post-Dispatch, and Rains, from the Globe-Democrat, were the two primary print reporters covering the Cardinals in the mid 1980s. There were no sports talk radio stations, or internet organizations and the local radio and television stations often did not have reporters at the games.

The night provided a great opportunity for McGee, Coleman, and Smith to get together and remember the 1980′s when they were part of Whitey Herzog’s teams that won the World Series in 1982 and played the Royals in 1985.

McGee lives in California with his wife and children, far from the limelight he was used to at Busch. Everyone who remembers him knows that’s just fine with him. He told reporters that most of his baseball trophies and awards are stored in the garage of his house, and he does not know exactly where his MVP award from 1985 is. “It’s somewhere in the house,” he said.

McGee was always a hard worker and a fan-favorite who did his talking with the bat, glove, and the occasional stolen base.

Coleman, who also is living in California, was known for his basestealing abilities and recently appeared on “The Sports Zone with Rob Rains and B.J. Rains” talking about how he feels  basestealing is a lost art among most of today’s players.

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