When I told JP Richardson that SRN Broadcasting is a small company that supports underdogs, and that I wanted to interview him, he readily agreed. The story of an undrafted wide receiver trying to stick with the Chicago Bears hits close to home for us.
Richardson has made the Bears’ practice squad two years in a row. He is 24 and still waiting for his first regular-season NFL snap. He is not complaining about it.
From Oklahoma State to TCU
Richardson started his college career at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were his first Power Five offer out of high school, and his dad told him to go where he was wanted. He caught 23 passes as a freshman in 2021, and 49 for 503 yards in 2022.
Then he left. Richardson told me that leaving OSU was the last thing he thought he would do, but he “took a gamble on myself” and transferred to TCU. He called it the best decision he ever made.
It paid off. He caught 46 passes for 536 yards in 2023 and 57 for 733 yards in 2024. He also returned punts for the Horned Frogs. In four college seasons he finished with 175 catches, 1,940 yards and 11 touchdowns. When I mentioned how TCU fans stay Horned Frogs for life, just like my Tar Heels, he answered, “Frog for life.”
The Call That Never Came
The 2025 NFL Draft ended without his name being called. “I thought I had put enough on tape to be drafted,” Richardson said. “Of course, everybody wants to hear their name called. That’s kind of the dream.”
He signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent anyway, and he told me why. He chose Chicago “knowing Ben and what he’s done in this league,” a reference to head coach Ben Johnson. He knew the receiver room was deep, but he said it was “exactly a spot that I would want to be.”
He made a statement early. At the Bears’ Family Fest on August 3, 2025, he caught a pass from Tyson Bagent through traffic and ran it in for a touchdown of about 50 yards. The preseason was tougher. He had four catches for 28 yards in two games and got hurt in the second one.
Year One and Year Two on the Practice Squad
The Bears cut him on August 26, 2025, and brought him back to the practice squad the next day. Practice squad players rarely make headlines, but Richardson did get one game day. In late December the Bears elevated him for the game against San Francisco. He dressed but did not record a snap, and he went back to the practice squad two days later.
On January 20, 2026, Chicago signed him to a futures contract. In his exit meetings, he said, general manager Ryan Poles and Johnson told him they wanted him to keep developing on the practice squad. He sees that as a compliment. “I take that with great pride,” he said. He added that most people do not realize how hard it is just to stick around.
Year two brought a scare. The Bears waived him at final cuts on August 30, 2026. He was back on the practice squad within a day or two, one of 11 players Chicago signed after the cuts. That makes two straight years of getting cut and coming back.
The Underdog Mindset
Richardson does not pretend the path is easy. He said he realized quickly that he belongs, but he comes in every day with an “underdog mindset.” He knows he has to do “a little bit more than everybody else to kind of stand out.”
His weekly job is to prepare as if he is playing. He wants the coaches to know that if his name gets called, “I’ve mastered the game plan.” His goal is simple. “Just looking to get 1% better every single day.”
He picks up ideas wherever he can. When he sees a teammate in the receiver room do something well, he said, “I’m gonna add that to my bag.” He also leans on the Bears’ defensive backs, asking what they saw on a play and why they made a move. “Are you looking at my hips? Are you looking at my head? What can I do to manipulate you better?” Practice squad receivers get to line up against that group every day, and he treats it like a free education.
A Top 10 Pick and an Undrafted Receiver
The friend who makes this story is tight end Colston Loveland. The Bears took the Michigan star with the 10th pick of the 2025 draft, the same class Richardson joined as a free agent. You would not expect a first-round pick and a practice squad receiver to be close. They are.
Richardson said he gravitated toward Loveland “because I saw the way he worked.” He added, “He’s a guy you never would have thought he was a top 10 pick because of the way he carries himself and the way he works, and I admire that. We just became buddies.”
I saw the friendship for myself. When I was at the United Center covering Michigan in the NCAA men’s basketball regional final, Loveland was there to see his alma mater. And who was with him? JP Richardson.
Loveland gave me a comment for this story, and it matches. He said the friendship started when the two rookies were staying at the same hotel. They began joking about getting an edge on each other with extra catches, and the offseason turned into a lot of golf. “Great dude,” Loveland said. “Works his tail off, for sure.” He said Richardson handles himself the right way, puts in the extra work and was balling out during camp on the look team, the scout squad that runs the opponent’s plays in practice. “He’s just always making plays.” Then he said something you do not hear often from a first-round pick. Richardson is “a guy that I look up to as well.”
Richardson is still waiting on that first regular-season snap. Asked what he wants people to know about him, he gave the simplest answer of the interview. He loves golf, he loves smiling and laughing, and he likes being a good person to be around. “That’s really me at the end of the day,” he said.
When the call finally comes, a lot of people will be pulling for him, including myself.
Photos courtesy of JP Richardson/Instagram (@jprichardsonn).
This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of Claude, at the direction of the author who made all final edits.
