Lafayette’s Clayton Richard was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame

LAFAYETTE — World Series champion and Lafayette native Clayton Richard was in his preferred element Wednesday during a warm afternoon at Loeb Field.

Wearing a sleeveless cut and his eyes buried deep beneath his sunglasses, Richard was coaching his sons Cashton, 11, and Cannon, 10, in baseball with a group of fifth graders.

“I know how much fun I have playing this game and I see where it takes me and I see where it takes the guys I play with,” Richard said. “If we could have one kid come from town doing the same thing and I had a small role in it, it would all be worth it. The reality is that when you learn the game of baseball the right way, the lessons you learn from it will help you become a better man, father, brother and uncle.”

Before soaking up the sun, Richard received an award three days before last Sunday when he was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023. Cashton praised his father with his speech, using eloquent diction and displaying charisma in front of hundreds of peers and student-athletes.

Cashton spoke and when he looked down, sitting in the front row were Purdue men’s basketball coach Matt Painter and his legendary predecessor, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Gene Keady.

“Her mom (Ashley) helps her and she does most of the legwork and she does a really good job,” Richard said. “It was a very proud moment to watch him come out and do it in front of so many dignitaries.”

Although Richard is almost universally known in the sports world as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, and Chicago White Sox, he is also considered one of the greatest high school quarterbacks the Lafayette area has ever produced.

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Richard threw for 10,777 yards and 92 touchdowns during his high school career and was named Mr. Basketball. Football from Indiana in his senior year by completing 182 of 306 attempts for 2,933 yards and 27 touchdowns while rushing for 467 yards and 12 touchdowns on 120 carries.

A true giant, Richard was Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball in the same school year while succeeding as McCutcheon’s valedictorian.

Richard went on to play football at Michigan and completed 8 of 15 passes for 52 yards during his college career before being drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2005.

Richard has returned to Lafayette and serves as the head baseball coach and quarterbacks coach at Lafayette Jeff.

One of the first to witness Richard’s rise was former McCutcheon assistant coach Kevin O’Shea, an Indiana Football of Famer himself who has won five IHSAA 1A State Championships at Central Catholic and is the head coach at Twin Lakes.

O’Shea will take Richard home from school accompanied by his two children Ryan and Kaitlyn after finishing classes at Mayflower Mill Elementary School.

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“It was a good player-coach relationship then and now it’s the friendship that’s more important at this point in our careers,” O’Shea said. “He is the epitome of a student-athlete.”

Fatherly wisdom

Richard was surrounded by his friends, family, and mentors at Lafayette. He could have pursued a second career in managing and coaching baseball in the minor leagues given his experience in the MLB and continued to climb the ladder while battling multiple ailments in his left shoulder.

Instead, he chose to follow in his father’s footsteps. Barry Richard is a former police officer who also manages residential buildings and helps run various small businesses around town.

“My parents were integral to every part of my development,” says Richard. “Despite working long hours at various jobs, she always made time for me and my sister. My mom always took care of myself and everything that came with it. We really learned the value of hard work and doing it consistently day after day. “

Richard recalls the days he spent learning how to not only keep the house clean and tidy but also actively contribute to society in a way that didn’t require a bank account or a large group of workers.

“The majority of our childhood was picking up trash in the parking lot,” said Richard. “We do this at many gas stations around the city and several residential areas. This was really a great opportunity for me and my sister to learn how to work and make things better than they were when you left them. When you see the dirty ground, the dirty curb, you sweep it, you pick it up and you see the place looks better.

“When you mow the grass, you see the impact of your work. For him to take us along and see what hard work produces is invaluable to our development.”

Making baseball affordable in Lafayette

Making competitive baseball affordable in Indiana is Richard’s main mission.

The price of competing in youth tournaments has skyrocketed in the last decade in many sports, including baseball. A survey collected by the Aspen Institute estimates the average family spends at least $883 per sport to provide the necessary funds for travel, lessons, tournament registration and equipment.

The key to reducing these costs and getting more kids involved is introducing baseball in elementary schools.

Richard currently sponsors youth baseball programs and lessons at Vinton, Miami and Earhart Elementary Schools.

“Growing up here wasn’t that tough for the kids in the community,” Richard said. “There are so many opportunities and places you can play and the demographics of how Lafayette was created has changed significantly. We’re looking for a way to bring baseball back to families who haven’t experienced it right now.”

The youth program led by Richard started at Vinton Elementary two years ago and stated plans to involve more schools throughout Lafayette.

“That’s the way we don’t socialize it to them is by eliminating travel,” said Richard. “Remove cost barriers for families, engage them, train them, build them to be part of a team, coach them and get all the benefits of playing team sports at a young age. to high school and want to play, they have the general skills and basic knowledge of the game.”

Sports idols come from local faces and not from professionals

It wasn’t often that young Clayton Richard could make the trip north to watch the Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox during the summer.

Instead, Richard found his sports heroes heralded in the gyms and fields of Harrison, Lafayette Jeff and McCutcheon.

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Those are athletes like Mavericks baseball star Onix Aviles, who played for the 1994 state runner-up team; Kentucky baseball star Josh Loggins; 13-year MLB outfielder Todd Dunwoody, who plays Harrison; Purdue star Ryan Cole; Lafayette Jeff standout Clay Snellgrove at Middle Tennessee State University; and 6ft 7in forward Greg Schornstein, who captured Richard’s imagination at a young age.

“All student-athletes when you’re young – 9, 10, 11, 12 years old – are magical,” Richard said. “I hope we can again build a community that is more involved in watching and attending games. Because this will produce the next generation who want to play and provide the value to future generations that this game can bring.”

Ethan Hanson is a sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be contacted atehanson@gannett.comon Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram on ethan_a_hanson.