Las Vegas Raiders running back Jalen Richard came bursting onto the scene as an undrafted rookie free agent as he took his first NFL carry to the house for a 75-yard touchdown scamper. Richard has since remained on the Silver and Black as he now enters his fifth season. Despite being a regularly used asset for the Raiders, many still pronounce “Richard” incorrectly. Jalen wants that to change as evidenced by a recent tweet.
Let’s take a brief look at some of the various ways “Richard” has been pronounced. First up, is a legendary broadcaster, Jim Nantz from the 2016 season, when Richard caught a goal-line touchdown pass. Here (at least to me) it sounds like Nantz pronounces it RIH-Shard, which is close, but technically isn’t correct. However, after the play occurs, the analyst, Phil Simms, says it the right way. Listen here:
Derek Carr throws a short pass to Jalen Richard for the 4-yard TD! #RaiderNation #INDvsOAK pic.twitter.com/5Gtief3uZI
— Chat Sports (@ChatSports) December 24, 2016
In the virtual world of Madden 20, it is somewhat comical how they go about pronouncing Richard. On one instance Brandon Gaudin, the play-by-play broadcaster for the EA Sports video game series, pronounces “Richard” similar to how Jim Nantz said it in the above video. Gaudin does, however, say it another way, very much like as one’s first name would be pronounced. Scroll down to see a clip of each pronunciation in a response I had to Jalen’s tweet.
Here’s the two ways Madden 20 pronounces “Richardâ€. pic.twitter.com/cMGtB9O3X8
— Christopher Engelage (@SportsWithChris) April 18, 2020
If this quarantine time of social distancing helps us learn anything (other than washing our hands for at least 20 seconds) let’s all get the pronunciation of Jalen Richard correct. After all, hasn’t the running back earned it by now? It is the least that Raiders fans can do at this point.
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