Iowa football: Where each former five-star recruit in the Kirk Ferentz era is

Dace Richardson

Richardson, a teammate of Tony Moeaki’s in high school at Wheaton Warrenville South, was the 36th best prospect in the nation coming out of high school. He was the third of Iowa’s three five-star recruits from the class of 2005.

Although the talent and the hard work was there, injuries decimated Richardson’s career. In five seasons with the Iowa football team, Richardson sat out one with an injury, spent one as the backup (his freshman year) and spent the other three listed as a starter but missing time due to injuries in each of those three seasons.

He did manage to put it together for the most part in 2009 when he missed just four games and was able to start in Iowa’s Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech. Richardson was named Team Comeback Player of the Year and All-Big Ten by the coaches at the conclusion of the 2009 season.

His solid senior performance led to him being invited to the NFL Combine, but it wouldn’t be the storybook ending for Richardson there. He posted one of the worst 40-yard dash times in the history of the combine with a 5.79 second 40-yard dash.

The 2010 NFL Draft would come and go without his name being called, but he did manage to secure a tryout with the New York Giants before playing with the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League.

Dace is now working as a Day Trader for Alcyone Capital in Des Moines, Iowa.