TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
10/23/2025 4:57:00 PM | Football
Two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, Richardson got to ‘Close the Case’
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This is the sixth in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at BaylorBears.com.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Cyril Richardson played an integral role in one of the most memorable nights in the history of the Baylor football program, one of eight people who got to turn out a bank of lights following the Bears' 30-10 win over Texas that clinched a Big 12 championship and "Closed the Case" on Dec. 7, 2013.
"They wanted me to be the person from our decade to turn out the lights, and I was just speechless," said Richardson, a two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and part of the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored Nov. 14.
Representing the 2000s, Richardson was joined by Teaff, then-president Kenneth Starr, former greats Gale Galloway, Don Trull, Jay Allison and Bruce Davis before then-coach Art Briles turned out the final bank of lights and the 64-year-old stadium turned completely dark.
"If they told me, I didn't catch on to it," Richardson said, "because we were playing Texas, and you have to be locked into that and not worry about anything but winning that game. . . . I just remember hitting that switch and shaking hands with Grant Teaff. That's about it. I was just in the moment. There was a lot of good stuff going on."
That could also speak to Richardson's Baylor career as a whole – "there was a lot of good stuff going on." That win over Texas, along with the program's first Big 12 championship, was part of an incredible run that included four-consecutive bowl games, a four-year record of 36-16 and enough individual accolades to fill his own trophy case.
Similar to his "Close the Case" moment, Richardson said he was "speechless" when former teammate Kaeron Johnson and current "B" Association Executive Director David Wetzel called him this summer to notify him that he had been elected to the Baylor Hall of Fame.
"It's crazy, just that journey being at Baylor and going over it. It's been a while, but lots of good memories started rushing back with all the teammates and coaches," he said. "It feels good to have this honor of being in the Hall of Fame."
A native of New Orleans, La., Cyril moved to Texas in October 2006 after his family home was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"That was about a year and a half after Katrina that we moved to Texas," he said. "My older sister was here first, she had moved to Fort Worth, and we decided, 'Let's go!'''
Playing for coach Mike Papas at North Crowley High School, Richardson earned first-team all-district honors as a senior and was ranked among the top offensive tackle prospects in the country.
"I'm going to admit, I was a little averse to (football) at first, but I learned to love it," he said. "It was fun to just put people in the dirt and not have to worry about anybody saying anything about it. I got with a bunch of good people at North Crowley, and they really helped guide e on that journey."
While he was getting interest from other schools, including LSU, Cyril said he made up his mind at a Baylor football camp in the summer of 2008.
"I met my coaches – Coach Briles, Coach (Randy) Clements and Coach Kaz (Kazadi), and they kept giving me tips on what I was doing out there," he said. "Eventually, it came down to them offering me a scholarship right there at that camp. You're going to put this in my hand, a DI scholarship right in front of me, yeah, I'm all for it."
Fifteen minutes into the drive back to Fort Worth, Cyril called the coaches and accepted the offer.
"Coach Clem, I can't even explain everything he's done for me in guiding me in that journey," Cyril said, "just taking somebody really raw and molding them into someone who could be confident on the field and just be a bruiser. I can still hear him out there on the field: 'Get moving! Get your feet moving!' All that stuff. I'll never forget it, and he's always had a special place in my heart."
After a year of development in the weight room, Richardson played in 12 of 13 games and made four starts at guard as a redshirt freshman in 2010, when the Bears won seven games and ended a 15-year bowl drought.
"With Kaz's workouts and the scheme we were running, we had to be furious," he said. "We had to be fast on the field, get to the line, let's run a play. It was like 80 (offensive) plays every game. That's a program where you have to hit the ground running."
Starting all 13 games at left tackle as a sophomore in 2011, Cyril was the blindside protector for eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. That year, the Bears ranked second nationally in total offense, fourth in passing offense, fourth in scoring offense and 10th in rushing offense and won 10 games for just the second time in school history.
"Being able to protect a guy like that is special," he said. "Special player, super athletic, could throw the ball as far as you can see. You've got to protect something like that. Every day we walk out, and he had these special handshakes with everybody. But I kept mine simple. Just a handshake and 'Keep it simple!'''
Making the switch to left guard, Cyril earned second-team All-America honors as a junior in 2012 and unanimous All-American as a senior in 2013, when he was also an Outland Trophy finalist and Jim Parker Award winner as the top collegiate offensive lineman.
Drafted in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills, Cyril played in 12 games and started four as a rookie in 2014. He was on practice squads with the Bills and Chicago Bears each of the next three seasons and had brief stints in two of the spring leagues before retiring after a leg injury in 2020.
"It's unfortunate, but everybody is not going to have that star-studded dream of playing till they can't play no more," he said. "I'm just grateful for the time I had, because it was a good time."
Joining Richardson in the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class are Petty and Derek Turner from football, women's golfer Hannah Burke, equestrian's Samantha Schaefer, Taylor Ormond from women's tennis, LaceDarius Dunn from men's basketball and baseball player Chris Durbin. Former football manager Dusty Sanderson will be added to the "B" Association Wall of Honor.
The 2025 Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus. Registration is available here.
This is the sixth in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at BaylorBears.com.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Cyril Richardson played an integral role in one of the most memorable nights in the history of the Baylor football program, one of eight people who got to turn out a bank of lights following the Bears' 30-10 win over Texas that clinched a Big 12 championship and "Closed the Case" on Dec. 7, 2013.
"They wanted me to be the person from our decade to turn out the lights, and I was just speechless," said Richardson, a two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and part of the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored Nov. 14.
Representing the 2000s, Richardson was joined by Teaff, then-president Kenneth Starr, former greats Gale Galloway, Don Trull, Jay Allison and Bruce Davis before then-coach Art Briles turned out the final bank of lights and the 64-year-old stadium turned completely dark.
"If they told me, I didn't catch on to it," Richardson said, "because we were playing Texas, and you have to be locked into that and not worry about anything but winning that game. . . . I just remember hitting that switch and shaking hands with Grant Teaff. That's about it. I was just in the moment. There was a lot of good stuff going on."
That could also speak to Richardson's Baylor career as a whole – "there was a lot of good stuff going on." That win over Texas, along with the program's first Big 12 championship, was part of an incredible run that included four-consecutive bowl games, a four-year record of 36-16 and enough individual accolades to fill his own trophy case.
Similar to his "Close the Case" moment, Richardson said he was "speechless" when former teammate Kaeron Johnson and current "B" Association Executive Director David Wetzel called him this summer to notify him that he had been elected to the Baylor Hall of Fame.
"It's crazy, just that journey being at Baylor and going over it. It's been a while, but lots of good memories started rushing back with all the teammates and coaches," he said. "It feels good to have this honor of being in the Hall of Fame."
A native of New Orleans, La., Cyril moved to Texas in October 2006 after his family home was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"That was about a year and a half after Katrina that we moved to Texas," he said. "My older sister was here first, she had moved to Fort Worth, and we decided, 'Let's go!'''
Playing for coach Mike Papas at North Crowley High School, Richardson earned first-team all-district honors as a senior and was ranked among the top offensive tackle prospects in the country.
"I'm going to admit, I was a little averse to (football) at first, but I learned to love it," he said. "It was fun to just put people in the dirt and not have to worry about anybody saying anything about it. I got with a bunch of good people at North Crowley, and they really helped guide e on that journey."
While he was getting interest from other schools, including LSU, Cyril said he made up his mind at a Baylor football camp in the summer of 2008.
"I met my coaches – Coach Briles, Coach (Randy) Clements and Coach Kaz (Kazadi), and they kept giving me tips on what I was doing out there," he said. "Eventually, it came down to them offering me a scholarship right there at that camp. You're going to put this in my hand, a DI scholarship right in front of me, yeah, I'm all for it."
Fifteen minutes into the drive back to Fort Worth, Cyril called the coaches and accepted the offer.
"Coach Clem, I can't even explain everything he's done for me in guiding me in that journey," Cyril said, "just taking somebody really raw and molding them into someone who could be confident on the field and just be a bruiser. I can still hear him out there on the field: 'Get moving! Get your feet moving!' All that stuff. I'll never forget it, and he's always had a special place in my heart."
After a year of development in the weight room, Richardson played in 12 of 13 games and made four starts at guard as a redshirt freshman in 2010, when the Bears won seven games and ended a 15-year bowl drought.
"With Kaz's workouts and the scheme we were running, we had to be furious," he said. "We had to be fast on the field, get to the line, let's run a play. It was like 80 (offensive) plays every game. That's a program where you have to hit the ground running."
Starting all 13 games at left tackle as a sophomore in 2011, Cyril was the blindside protector for eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. That year, the Bears ranked second nationally in total offense, fourth in passing offense, fourth in scoring offense and 10th in rushing offense and won 10 games for just the second time in school history.
"Being able to protect a guy like that is special," he said. "Special player, super athletic, could throw the ball as far as you can see. You've got to protect something like that. Every day we walk out, and he had these special handshakes with everybody. But I kept mine simple. Just a handshake and 'Keep it simple!'''
Making the switch to left guard, Cyril earned second-team All-America honors as a junior in 2012 and unanimous All-American as a senior in 2013, when he was also an Outland Trophy finalist and Jim Parker Award winner as the top collegiate offensive lineman.
Drafted in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills, Cyril played in 12 games and started four as a rookie in 2014. He was on practice squads with the Bills and Chicago Bears each of the next three seasons and had brief stints in two of the spring leagues before retiring after a leg injury in 2020.
"It's unfortunate, but everybody is not going to have that star-studded dream of playing till they can't play no more," he said. "I'm just grateful for the time I had, because it was a good time."
Joining Richardson in the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class are Petty and Derek Turner from football, women's golfer Hannah Burke, equestrian's Samantha Schaefer, Taylor Ormond from women's tennis, LaceDarius Dunn from men's basketball and baseball player Chris Durbin. Former football manager Dusty Sanderson will be added to the "B" Association Wall of Honor.
The 2025 Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus. Registration is available here.
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