horrible incident: the Bears head coach was detained by the police for the murder of a key player.
Editor’s note: New details regarding Richardson’s legal status have been added to this article, which was first published in March 2021.
Ronald Like, the victim, and an unidentified black male known only as “Big Mike” got into a verbal altercation on December 29, 2020, at around 0918 hours, in the vicinity of 4120 E. Van Buren St. at the Howard Johnson hotel, over money or drugs that Ronald was owed.
A witness who is acquainted with both Ronald and Mike saw them quarreling. After hearing three or four gunshots, the witness saw Mike’s red Chrysler 200 drive out of the parking lot about a minute later. Probable cause statement from the Phoenix Police Department
Mike Richardson, also known as “L.A. Mike,” was a featured rapper in “The Super Bowl Shuffle” and a cornerback for the 1985 Bears, who had arguably the best defense in NFL history.
In Maricopa County, Arizona, Michael Calvin Richardson, also known as “Big Mike,” is awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and misdemeanor involving weapons.
Over the course of seven felony convictions, L.A. Mike became Big Mike with a lot of twists, turns, stops, and dips.
But in Compton, California, he was a brother and son before he was either.
Bobbie, his mother, was an educator. Calvin, also referred to as “Blue,” was his Air Force veteran father who disciplined his children.
“He would cruise around in his camper, and you could do no wrong if he was in the neighborhood because he was keeping an eye on everyone,” recalled Tim Wright, Richardson’s boyhood buddy, who is currently an ordained minister and attorney in Chicago. “His parents were amazing individuals who brought up the community.”
