Hall of Fame
Joe Richard, a member of EKU’s All-Century Football team which was announced in 2009, was a four-year starter at noseguard for coach Roy Kidd’s Colonels. In being selected first-team All-OVC as a junior and senior, Richard totaled 278 tackles and 186 assists in a brilliant four-year career, including 97 solo tackles and 49 assists in 1979. One of the highlights of his outstanding career was a 16 tackle performance he produced as a senior in a Homecoming victory over Western Kentucky. He is credited with coming up with one of the biggest plays in Eastern football history when he blocked an extra point by Nevada Reno late in the semifinal game of the 1979 I-AA playoffs that sent the contest into double overtime where the Colonels won 33-30 on their way to the school’s first national football championship. During his four seasons at EKU, the Colonels were 32-12, including an outstanding freshman season in 1976 that saw EKU win the OVC and participate in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Voted Most Valuable Player his junior and senior seasons, Richard won numerous OVC Player of the Week honors for the Colonels. Following graduation from EKU, he had training camp stints with several Canadian Football League teams – Edmonton Eskimos (1981), Montreal Concords (1982) and the Hamilton Tiger Cats (1985). He graduated from EKU in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree in art curriculum. He is also graduated from Columbus State College with an Associate of Science degree in Sport and Fitness Management and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Fire Science, graduating Cum Laude and being inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society. He is currently serving as a firefighter lieutenant in Columbus, OH. He is currently serving on the Executive Board as a Trustee for the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters. He is also serving as Vice President of the Columbus FireFighters Union and is Vice President of the Ohio AFL/CIO. He also serves as Chair and as a member of various union committees on those boards. Joe also served on the Firefighters Association Human Relations Committee.
