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Two decades ago, L.A. Mike did 'Super Bowl Shuffle,' but last week, he
faced prison on his 21st drug-related conviction.
Michael "L.A. Mike" Richardson reached the pinnacle of success in pro
football.
In a seven-year career as an NFL cornerback for the Chicago Bears and
the San Francisco 49ers, Richardson intercepted 20 p*****, recovered
four fumbles, scored a touchdown.
And he won a Super Bowl.
Along the way, he became a part of one of the most famous music groups
in NFL history: "The Bears Shufflin' Crew."
He was right there with Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, Richard Dent,
William "The Refrigerator" Perry, and several others dancing and rapping
the "Super Bowl Shuffle," an unforgettable one-hit-wonder by members of
the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears who happened to be coached by one Mike
Ditka.
Every NFL junkie of the 1980s remembers the words:
"We are Bears Shufflin' Crew,
Shufflin' on down, doin' it for you.
We're not here to start no trouble,
We're just here to do the Super Bowl Shuffle."
The Bears run to the champion****p was the stuff of football legends, and
Richardson, the gutty, sleek defender from Los Angeles, was one of the
team's key components on the field and in the video.
He had reached one of the highest of highs of personal achievements.
On Friday nearly a quarter-century after that amazing season --
Richardson sank to one of the lowest of the lows.
He sat handcuffed to a chair in a Santa Ana courtroom in a
mustard-colored uniform with the words "ORANGE COUNTY JAIL" stenciled on
the back, facing more than a decade's worth of jail time ...
The Super Bowl Shuffle was a smash.
It was played over and over again on s****ts television shows and on the
fledgling MTV cable channel. It received a Grammy nomination for Best
Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Duo or Group.
In the video, each of the Bear's superstars rapped the chorus in unison,
and then danced to their own specialized solo.
Running back Walter Payton's stepped up to the mic:
"Well, they call me Sweetness,
And I like to dance.
Runnin' the ball is like makin' romance."
"LA Mike" as Richardson called himself in the rap tune, sang his solo
after Payton, McMahon and legendary linebacker Mike Singletary.
Here is his part:
"I'm L.A. Mike, and I play it cool.
They don't sneak by me 'cause I'm no fool.
I fly on the field and get on down.
Everybody knows I don't mess around.
I can break'em, shake'em,
Any time of day.
I like to steal it and make 'em pay,
So please don't cry to beat my hustle
'Cause I'm just here to do
The Super Bowl Shuffle."
It was a cool-enough rap for rabid football fans, especially cool for
the long-suffering fans of the Chicago Bears.
Even better, as the supremely confident Bears strutted their stuff on
the video, they also strutted their stuff on the field. The '85 Bears
dominated en route to a near perfect regular season (marred only by a
late season, Monday Night loss to the Miami Dolphins).
They recorded a lopsided 46-10 win over the New England Patriots in
Super Bowl XX, completing one of the best seasons in NFL history -- the
only time in Bear history that they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
Richardson was arrested on Sept. 30, 2006 after a routine traffic stop
at Dale Street and Stanford Avenue in Garden Grove. Witnesses testified
that a nervous and sweaty Richardson was driving a Pontiac Grand Am in
an erratic manner.
He was placed in the back of a patrol car for an outstanding traffic
warrant. And then when police searched his car allowable because he
was on parole from a prior felony drug conviction they found large
quantities of rock cocaine and methamphetamines.
He was tried and convicted of possession and trafficking in drugs.
It was Richardson's 21st conviction on drug-related charges since his
football career ended. It was his fifth felony. He's served short stints
in prison before, and he has been into and out of several drug
rehabilitation programs.
But this time it was serious. This time, he faced a maximum of 13 years
in prison. Or he could he placed in another drug rehab program.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough asked for eight years, arguing
that Richardson had shown a "complete disregard" to the numerous
op****tunities afforded to him by judges when they sentenced him
leniently on his previous convictions.
Deputy Public Defender Huy Nguyen, however, asked that Richardson be
given one last chance. He wanted Richardson in the residential
Cornerstone Drug Rehabilitation Facility in Santa Ana, for therapy,
treatment and monitoring.
"This is a do or die situation for him," Nguyen said.
Richardson himself acknowledged that he has had several chances in the
past, but he said he questioned his commitment to kicking his addiction.
But now, he insisted, he's ready to get serious.
"I got so lost," he said. "I just didn't feel I had enough strength to
pull myself up."
He was sup****ted by his family, including three sisters who came to
court, and his many friends, including old teammates and coaches.
"I will help in any way necessary to try and find a way to help him
through this tough time," said the legendary Coach Ditka in a
handwritten letter to the court. "I believe his life is worth trying to
save."
Former teammate Richard Dent also sent a letter.
"I
know that Mike is troubled, but a good man to his soul," Dent
wrote. "I would deeply beg the court to give Mike one last chance."
So it was up to Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly to decide
Richardson's fate: prison for up to 13 years, or take a risk and send
him back into drug rehab.
"You reached heights in you career, in your life. You attained goals
that few people in the world can ever attain. You were a Super Bowl
champion. You tasted greatness." Kelly told Richardson.
"But the drugs are going to crush it all. And it has already crushed a
substantial ****tion of your life
To me, this is a terrible testament to
the power of drug addiction."
The judge said he would be entirely justified in sending Richardson to
prison for eight years, as requested by Scarbrough, or even to the
maximum allowable term of 13 years.
But he said he also he felt Richardson was a good-hearted person with a
lot of sup****t who was finally committed to kicking his addictions.
"So whether this is infinite wisdom or not, I am going to take a chance
on you," Kelly said. "You have too much to offer in society to let you
rot away in prison."
But first Kelly wanted to make sure that Richardson knew what was at
stake, that he knew that this was indeed his last chance.
The judge gave Richardson a year in jail. He suspended a 13-year prison
sentence, placing Richardson on probation pending successful completion
of the Cornerstone drug rehab program.
"If you kick sand in my face in my face like you have done to the other
judges, I will violate your probation and give you every single day of
that 13 year sentence," Kelly said. "I hope I am right," the judge said.
"
time will tell. Only time will tell."
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