Jon Ritchie

Jon David Ritchie (born September 4, 1974) is an American sports radio host and former professional American football fullback in the National Football League. He started for seven seasons in the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite only 15 rushing attempts in his career, Ritchie built a reputation with his blue collar work ethic as being one of the best blocking fullbacks in the NFL.[1]

For other people named John Ritchie, see John Ritchie (disambiguation).
Jon Ritchie
No. 40, 48
Position:Fullback
Personal information
Born: (1974-09-04) September 4, 1974
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school:Cumberland Valley
(Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania)
College:Stanford
NFL Draft:1998 / Round: 3 / Pick: 63
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Rushing attempts:15
Rushing yards:36
Rushing touchdowns:0
Receptions:150
Receiving yards:1,148
Receiving touchdowns:7
Player stats at NFL.com

After football, Ritchie co-hosted The Artie Lange Show alongside comedian Artie Lange from 2013 to 2014. He currently cohosts the midday show on Philadelphia sports radio station WIP-FM with some stick, Joe “The Hammer” DeCamara, as well as James Seltzer.

Early years

Ritchie attended Cumberland Valley High School near Carlisle, Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1993. He led his high school football team to the state championship in 1992.

College career

Upon graduation, Ritchie attended the University of Michigan as a freshman and sophomore. At Michigan, he played as a true freshman. During his career at Michigan, he rushed for 120 yards and caught two passes for 13 yards. Then in 1995 he transferred to Stanford University where he played as a junior and senior. At Stanford, he first started as an inside linebacker, but switched to fullback. He rushed 17 times for 95 yards and received nine passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He is a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.[2]

Professional career

Ritchie was drafted in the third round (63rd overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He started for the Raiders for five seasons. Raiders running back Charlie Garner posted three seasons of more than 1,700 yards from scrimmage with Ritchie as his teammate after rushing for just 381 yards the year before he joined Oakland. The Raiders led the league in total yardage in 2002, en route to an AFC Championship and appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII, where Oakland lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2003, Ritchie signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He had expressed an interest in playing closer to his hometown, which was just 90 miles west of Philadelphia, so his friends and family could watch and attend his games. In 2003, the Eagles running back tandem of Brian Westbrook, Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter and quarterback Donovan McNabb rushed for 2,015 yards and 23 touchdowns behind Ritchie.[3] Ritchie was also second on the team in touchdown receptions in 2003 (behind Westbrook, and ahead of Staley), with the Eagles running backs playing a larger role in the passing game than the lackluster receiving core.[4]

Four games into the 2004 season, Ritchie suffered a season-ending knee injury. He re-signed with the Eagles on a one-year contract for the 2005 season while recovering from his injury. Though Ritchie had been taking first team reps as the starting fullback during training camp, he was released by the team during final cuts. He retired from playing prior to the 2006 season and began a career in sports media.[5]

Career statistics
YearRushingReceivingCombined
AttYdsAvgTDCatYdsAvgTDFumblesTotal PointsGames Played
19989232.60292257.802015
19995122.40454089.110616
2000000.00261736.700013
2001000.00191548.1201215
2002000010666.611616
2003101.0017865.1301816
200400004369.00003
Total15362.401501,1487.7734294

Senatorial election campaign

Ritchie announced in February 2016 that he would run for the Pennsylvania State Senate to replace the retiring Pat Vance in Pennsylvania's 31st Senatorial District. He touted himself as a candidate who would lower taxes, fight for pension reform, and help to revitalize Pennsylvania's education system.[6] In a four-way race for the Republican nomination, Ritchie finished second to Mike Regan.[7] Ritchie actually won the Democratic nomination by write-in votes[8] despite not campaigning for it,[9] but ultimately decided not to run in the general election.[10][11]

References
  1. PRO FOOTBALL; Jon Ritchie is a Studied Breath of Fresh Air
  2. The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 2, p. 14,
  3. Where Are They Now? FB Jon Ritchie
  4. 2003 Philadelphia Eagles Statistics & Players
  5. NFL | Ritchie retires; heading to a broadcasting career
  6. http://www.ritchie4senate.com/
  7. State rep wins over former NFL player in 31st Senate District race
  8. Jon Ritchie may end up on Democratic ticket this fall
  9. Jon Ritchie adds to his write-in total with 127 votes in York County
  10. Ritchie withdraws, Democrats looking for Senate candidate
  11. Ritchie talks politics after ending Senate race
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.