Phil Richards has covered virtually everything in a career with the Indianapolis Star that has spanned 27 years.
A versatile writer, he has been described by Star staffers as one of the most gifted reporters on the newspaper’s staff. Since joining the Star in 1984, he has covered Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame sports, golf, features and, since 1999, been a key part of the newspaper’s Indianapolis Colts coverage. He has covered several golf major championships, IU’s NCAA basketball championship team in 1987, Notre Dame’s national football title in 1998 and the Colts’ Super Bowl championship team in 2006.
Prior to joining the Star, Richards worked for the South Bend Tribune, where he covered the 27 Michigan high schools in the newspaper’s circulation area, and also covered college sports.
Richards was the ISSA’s Corky Lamm Indiana Sportswriter of the Year in 2008, and also the Indiana Sportswriter of the Year from the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in 1986. He also has won several awards from the Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors, the Hoosier State Press Association and the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists.
Richards graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1979 with an English degree. Prior to attending Notre Dame, he served in the Vietnam War as a member of the United States Army.
He is a native of Alpena, Mich., where he was a two-sport athlete at Alpena Catholic Central High School. He is married to Joan, and has three children — Phil, Denton and Jenna.