Golden Richards, a former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver whose touchdown sealed Super Bowl XII, died at his Utah home on Friday morning. He was 73.
Richards suffered congestive heart failure after battling health and drug abuse issues for years, according to Deseret News.
“My uncle Golden passed away peacefully this morning,” Richards’ nephew Lance Richards posted on Facebook. “I will forever remember going hunting and talking Dallas Cowboy football. He was a kind and sweet soul and I’m so happy he’s not suffering anymore.
Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Golden Richards died Friday morning at 73. Getty Images
The Cowboys selected Richards in the second round of the 1973 NFL draft, where he’d become a valuable deep threat for star quarterback Roger Staubach
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The former BYU and University of Hawaii standout caught a career-high five touchdowns in 1974 and, averaged more than 21 yards per catch in the 1975 and 1976 seasons.
Richards emerged as a valuable asset during Dallas’ road to their second Super Bowl win in 1977.
He caught a 32-yard touchdown in the NFC Championship game against the Vikings, to open the scoring in a 23-6 win.
Richards hauls in a touchdown pass during NFL football’s Super Bowl 12 in New Orleans on Jan 15, 1978. AP
Cowboys head coach Tom Landry liked calling trick plays in big games.
In the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl against the Broncos, running back Robert Newhouse threw a pass to Richards for a 29-yard touchdown to cap off the scoring in a 27-10 win.
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“People always think of that game as the highlight of my career but it wasn’t,” Richards told the LA Times in 1993.
“Every game I played was the highlight. Having my mates hold me up in the huddle when I had just gotten nailed and the wind knocked out of me, that was the highlight. The camaraderie of the game, every game, that was the highlight.”
Richards makes a catch in a 14 to 7 win over the Washington Redskins on Nov. 27, 1977, at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. NFL
Richards was traded to the Bears during the 1978 season before an injury cut his 1979 season short.
He later joined the Broncos in 1980 but retired after suffering another injury.
He finished his NFL career with 2,136 yards on 122 receptions and 17 touchdowns.
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Doug Richards told Deseret News that his brother had undergone four surgeries after he fell and broke his hip on Christmas Day in 2022.
(L-R) Richards, quarterback Roger Staubach, and Tony Dorsett in a photo prior to Super Bowl 12 in New Orleans. AP
Richards battled prescription drug and alcohol issues during and after his playing days, but was sober for the past 10 years, the outlet reported.
“I never took drugs to get high,” he said in 1993. “I took drugs because I couldn’t stand the pain.”
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2011.
“Seven or eight years of wear and tear on the football field for a 175-pound wide receiver who was concussed several times, too,” his brother Doug, a former BYU basketball star, told the outlet. “That obviously took its toll.”
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Richards, who was divorced three times, is survived by two sons and a two-year-old grandson.
Dallas Police Central Business District officers recovered 39 bags of crack cocaine during an arrest Tuesday.
The officers, working with the U.S. Marshal’s North Texas Fugitive Task Force, seized the drugs when they arrested 40-year-old Velisa Purvis, who was wanted on four outstanding felony warrants.
Officers spotted Purvis in the 1500 block of Garrett Avenue near Old East Dallas and took her into custody.
In addition to the cocaine, officers recovered two bags of suspected methamphetamine, drug packaging, money and marijuana.
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She now faces additional charges of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance between four grams and 200 grams and manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance between one and four grams for the crack cocaine, methamphetamine, currency, and individual packages with the intent to distribute.
DALLAS – The warm and muggy weather will give way to much cooler temperatures in the Dallas-Fort Worth area over the next few days.
Thursday Forecast
According to the FOX 4 Weather team, rain chances return on Thursday as a disturbance moves through the Plains.
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The best chance for showers and storms will be north of Interstate 20. There’s a marginal risk for severe storms for the areas northwest of DFW and along the Red River.
A southwest wind will also keep things very warm throughout the day. Expect highs to climb into the upper 70s to 80s. Wind gusts may reach as high as 25 to 30 mph.
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Weekend Forecast
The next cold front swings through on Friday afternoon. Ahead of it, there are rain chances, especially southeast of DFW.
Behind this front, noticeably colder air moves in for the weekend. Expect lows in the 30s and afternoon highs in the 50s.
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7-Day Forecast
A slow warm-up is expected heading into early next week.
The Source: The information in this story comes from FOX 4 Weather Meteorologist Ali Turiano’s weather report.
