Huey Richardson Huey L . Richardson , Jr . ( born February 2 , 1968 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League ( NFL ) for two seasons during the 1990s . Richardson played college football for the University of Florida , and earned All - American honors . He was a first - round pick in the 1991 NFL Draft , and played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers , Washington Redskins and New York Jets of the NFL . Early years . Richardson was born in Atlanta , Georgia in 1968 . He attended Lakeside High School in Atlanta , and played high school football for the Lakeside Vikings . College career . Richardson received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , where he played defensive end for coach Galen Hall and coach Steve Spurrier ' s Florida Gators football teams from 1987 to 1990 . Richardson was a first - team All - Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) selection in 1989 and 1990 and a first - team All - American in 1990 , and was selected as a senior team captain . At the end of his four years as a Gator , he totaled 26 . 5 quarterback sack s and 50 . 5 tackle s for a loss , still third and fourth , respectively , on the Gators ' all - time record lists . Richardson was honored as an SEC Academic Honor Roll selection all four years , received an NCAA post - graduate scholarship , and graduated from Florida with a bachelor ' s degree in economics in 1990 . He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 2003 . NFL Draft . Richardson was the first round draft choice ( fifteenth pick overall ) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1991 NFL Draft . Based on a conversation with the former Steelers director of scouting , Max McCartney , with three picks remaining before the Steelers picked at number 15 , they had three players targeted that they would be willing to select : Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Alvin Harper , Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Mike Pritchard and Arizona State Sun Devils running back Leonard Russell . When those three players were all selected with the three immediately preceding picks ( by the Dallas Cowboys , Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots , respectively ) , the Pittsburgh draft managers were unprepared and were forced to make a selection before their fifteen - minute time limit expired , and they settled on Richardson . Professional career . Richardson played only five games with the Steelers in , registering two tackles , plus another on special teams . Part of the problem was that the Steelers played a 3 - 4 defense , and Richardson didn ' t have the build to play defensive end in that scheme . The Steelers made him an inside linebacker , and he didn ' t make the adjustment very well . Following the 1991 season , long - time head coach Chuck Noll retired and was replaced by Bill Cowher , who tried to switch Richardson to outside linebacker ( his position for the first three years of his collegiate career ) . When that didn ' t work , Cowher asked player development director Tom Donahoe if it was too soon to cut him . When Donahoe said he should keep the top forty - seven players regardless of their draft history , Richardson was traded to the Washington Redskins for a seventh round draft pick ; if a trade had not been possible , Richardson would have simply been waived . After four uneventful games with the Redskins , he was released and signed with the New York Jets . At the end of the season , after seven games with the Jets , Richardson ' s short NFL career was over . Life after football . Richardson returned to college and earned his master ' s degree in business administration from Emory University in Atlanta in 2000 , and currently works as a financial analyst for Merrill Lynch in New York City . He was in the World Trade Center for a meeting on the morning of the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 . His meeting was scheduled to take place on an upper floor of the building , but he was delayed in the lobby before boarding the elevator , and was able to leave the World Trade Center safely after the first plane hit the building .