Report says Richardson has applied for sixth year

A new rule has apparently opened the door to allow Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richardson to send in an application for a sixth year of eligibility.

HawgSports.com reported Sunday it learned that Richardson has sent in the application.

The new rule passed April 18 allows college football players who redshirted their first year and then missed a year of football due to injury to be accepted for a sixth year of eligibility.

Under the previous rule, the sixth year was granted only to players who missed two years of football due to injuries, but the rule also said all applications would be reviewed, even those that would be considered non-traditional.

Richardson never even applied under this rule, waiting for the amendment to be passed.

The reason for the rule change is that players who did not redshirt their first year and got injured later had the ability to use that redshirt during their injury year and still retain the existing years of eligibility.

But if a player redshirted his first year and was injured, that season was completely lost under the current setup. One guy gets to play four years, the other only gets three.

Richardson, from Jacksonville, joined the Hogs as a walk-on in 2013. He redshirted his first year but was soon finding himself in the defensive back rotation.

In 2016, he earned the starting nickel job but suffered a severe torn pectoral early in the season. He started at nickel all of last season and also saw action at cornerback.