Anthony Richardson hypes up Florida fans with gator chomp during NCAA Tournament game vs Colorado
Craig Meyer
It’s been more than a year since Anthony Richardson has suited up for Florida in a football game, but even more than 800 miles away from Gainesville, he’s still a Gator at heart.
While in attendance for Florida’s 2024 NCAA Tournament first round game against Colorado Friday in Indianapolis Richardson, wearing an orange Florida shirt with blue script lettering, was shown on the jumbotron at Gainbridge Fieldhouse during the under-16 media timeout to pump up the crowd with a gator chomp.
Richardson is three months removed from the end of his rookie season with the Indianapolis Colts, who selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Injuries, including a season-ending AC joint sprain, limited him to just four games in his first professional season. He completed 59.5% of his passes for three touchdowns and an interception, along with 136 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
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Richardson played for three seasons at Florida from 2020-22. In that time, he threw for 3,105 yards, 24 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and ran for 1,116 yards and 12 touchdowns. Much of that production came in his final season with the program in 2022, when he passed for 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions while adding 654 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
Though Richardson never played basketball for the Gators, the impressive athleticism he shows on the football field is just as evident on a basketball court. In a video the Colts posted Thursday to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Richardson was shown throwing down a thunderous dunk at Florida’s basketball practice facility.
Richardson's plea for enthusiasm from the crowd was part of a fun, up-tempo and back-and-forth first half in which Florida and Colorado went into the locker room tied at 45 points apiece. The teams combined to shoot 55.7% from the field in the opening 20 minutes.