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ary Richards said. blanket all the time. He has to know what everybody is So Dad went about developing a Big Ten starting DB. doing, what the linebackers are doing, and his job is to At 4 years old, Taylor started playing catch with his make everybody right. When stuff goes wrong, he has to father after preschool until the street lamps came on, make everybody right. That's one of his biggest things about two hours after they started. and he takes pride in knowing what everybody does." "He would always have these huge — well, at least At 14, after experimenting some at running back, reI thought they were huge — college-sized balls. They ceiver and quarterback because he liked having the ball were just so big, and he'd throw them at me as hard as in his hands, Taylor Richards realized he was destined he could at the moment, and it kind of felt like he was to be a defensive back. He was a natural cornerback, breaking my fingers," Taylor Richards said, laughing at using his long arms and those solid hands, built from the memory. playing so much catch, to pick off double-digit passes as That after-school catch routine continued until Taylor an underclassman in high school. started high school, evolving from just playing catch into "I think it's just something in our blood," Richards route-running. When Taylor goes home now, they still said about playing DB. "I like to be very aggressive, and play catch. you can be aggressive on offense, but I see it a little more At 6, Taylor started doing 100 pushups, situps and pul- on the defensive side. lups every night before bed. Zachary had told him that's "Safety, I just kind of fell into the spot. We needed to what would make him strong, and if he wanted to be fill the void in high school, and I took on the challenge. I great, he'd need to put extra work in. haven't looked back since." This past offseason, not satisfied coming off his first PREPARATION PAYING OFF season as a full-time starter, Taylor Richards added 10 Even though Zachary Richards isn't coaching Taylor pounds of muscle, boosting him to 195, in order to be able anymore, his voice is ever-present. to come down and deliver big hits from his safety spot. Taylor swears he could hear it during Purdue's premier "He doesn't want anybody outdoing him," Zachary Richards said. "He's the hardest-working person I game of the season, the night-time showcase against Notre Dame on Sept. 14 in Ross-Ade Stadium. know." That's probably not true, though Zachary said he did When Taylor Richards was 8, Dad began coaching get hoarse from trying to yell over the roar of a rocking him in Pop Warner. Zachary Richards never treated Taylor like his kid, making him stay to do extra con- packed house. But, this time at least, the screaming wasn't all directditioning with the rest of the group, always on him ed into pointers. about little things to help him reach his potential. That night, Zachary watched his youngest play the After practice — and then after playing some catch, of best game of his college career. It wasn't just the cacourse — they'd plop on the couch in the living room and watch film. Gold and Black Pregame Show Initially, it was to diagnose the Listen any time to get the latest news before kickoff! team's other players, pinpoint which For all 12 regular-season games, the show fans the best insight into the contest delivered in a is were good and which plays worked, brings Boilermaker day or night. The show will beupcoming for download by earlyformat thatthe available any time available afternoon Taylor said, but gradually it moved day before each Purdue football game, giving the listener an interactive experience full of the the planet. This professionally into more detail, examining defen- best Purdue football game analysis on available for free download onproduced show, hosted by seasoned broadcaster Kyle Charters, is iTunes by searching "Gold sive concepts and down-and-distance and Black Radio" or at www.blogtalkradio.com/goldandblackcom. situations. Monday Show Current teammate Ricardo Allen your Monday morning quarterback … "Gold and Black Radio" now calls Taylor Richards one of the Talk aboutairs each Monday during the sports seasons at 10 a.m., but canis a well-produced show that be downloaded as a podcast for future listening at any time. A hard-hitting, fast-paced 20 minutes, we give the team's smartest players. the tweets "He knows the whole defense," Al- listenertime.news and insight they need to know heading into the next week. Plus, we take iTunes! in real It's the fastest 20 minutes in Internet Radio and it's available for download on len said. "He has to be that security f IllustrateD volume 24, issue 2 105