Height: 5-11   Weight: 205
College: New Mexico State
Position: DB   No: 30

Born: 4/3/1986
Hometown: Chandler, AZ

Professional: Signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2009. He participated in the first three preseason games of 2009, seeing action in two. Richardson recorded 2 solo tackles and had one pass defended against the Arizona Cardinals on August 13, 2009. He also recorded 1 solo tackle and one assist the following week in a game against the Washington Redskins on August 22, 2009. Richardson was released by the Steelers on August 31, 2009.

College: Richardson earned a reputation as a tough, hard hitting safety at New Mexico State. He was widely viewed as one of the best safeties in the Western Athletic Conference against the run. He was a second team All-WAC selection his senior year.  He led the nation in tackles per game with 12.5 per game and recorded 8 games with double digit tackles. Recorded 21 tackles for New Mexico State against UTEP and was only the third Aggies safety since 2000 to collect over 100 tackles. Richardson started all 13 games for New Mexico State as a junior in 2007 and recorded at least 4 tackles in every game. He broke into the Aggies starting unit for the last seven games of his sophomore year in 2006 recording 71 tackles, two for a loss, and two interceptions.

Personal: Derrick was born in Denver, CO ; and is the son of Norine and Eric Richardson. He was a four time athlete of the year at Chandler High School in Chandler, AZ. He was a second team all state selection as a senior and was named to the All-East Valley Team as a senior. Derrick was also the captain of the football and basketball teams. Derrick majored in electrical engineering at New Mexico State.