Hall of Fame
Richardson graduated from Coleman High School in Greenville, Mississippi, and subsequently attended Jackson State University, where he excelled in football and earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education.
After JSU, Gloster Van Richardson played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys, earning Super Bowl IV and VI championship rings respectively. He played with the Cleveland Browns before capping a 10-year career and earning numerous accolades.
Richardson was part of The Richardson Brothers Trio (Willie, Gloster, and Thomas) who were the first family to have a Jacksonian Tiger legacy in which three brothers all played in the NFL at the same time.
Beyond football, Richardson was an avid golfer who visited different courses throughout the United States, hitting many holes in one, notching top spots in tournaments and gaining inspiration from Tiger Woods for his ability to persevere through adversity and still rise.
Richardson was also an educator and leader who served as an offensive coach at Mississippi Valley State University with several of his student-athletes becoming NFL Pro Bowlers and Hall of Famers. He also became the first football coach for the inaugural football program at Kennedy King College in Chicago and worked in the Chicago Public Schools for more than 25 years.
He made an extraordinary impact in the lives of hundreds of students. Richardson became executive assistant to the first African American president of the Illinois Board of Commissioners in Cook County and worked on the Advisory Council of Intergovernmental Relations before eventually retiring in 2010.