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April 29, 2007

With the 202nd pick...

The Patriots chose Notre Dame's Mike Richardson, a 5-foot-11, 188 pound cornerback. A fifth-year senior, Richardson earned his degree in marketing last year and has been taking graduate courses at the school.

He moved onto most scouts' radars when he held Georgia Tech's Calvin Richardson -- the second overall pick in this draft -- to 16 second-half yards in the first game of last season.

Not invited to the Combine, Richardson went to a training facility in New Jersey. Owner Joe DeFranco has trained athletes for 10 years, and at one time worked with one Deion Branch.

An online story had DeFranco saying this about Richardson:

“He’s got that explosive burst in him that you just can’t teach,” DeFranco said. “I’ve worked with [Seattle Seahawks wide receiver] Deion Branch when I was at another facility, and even though Deion is a wide receiver, both he and Mike show similar kinds of speed bursts and the ability to come out of a cut. He’s just got some God-given skills that neither I nor anyone else can take credit for."

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:52 PM | Permalink