Dear Mama: Anthony Richardson says he could never repay mom for her sacrifices

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — One year ago, Anthony Richardson released a song on Mother’s Day. The track, entitled “Dear Mama”, was dedicated to his mom, LaShawnda Cleare, for how she raised him and his younger brother, Corey.

When Richardson was 10 years old, his mother took him and his brother out of Miami and relocated to Gainesville with them. It was hard for her as a single mom, but a move she had to make.

“Life in Miami was not good for us,” Cleare said in this video feature from Florida. “I didn’t want my kids to grow up in that environment. I wanted to give them better, even if I had to struggle.”

In “Dear Mama”, Richardson raps about his mother holding two jobs and doing hair to make ends meet. He credits her for supporting his football dreams and always finding a way to get him to practice without a car.

“Growing up as a kid I ain’t really have it, my momma even risked her life for a jacket.”

Richardson can share countless stories about the sacrifices his mom made to provide for him and his brother. There’s one memory, however, that stands out.

“I’ll never forget it,” Richardson told Gators Online in an exclusive interview.

After moving to Gainesville, Richardson played youth football with the J.P. Rattlers. As the end of the season approached, it was time for the team to hold its an annual banquet.

The coaches called a meeting and informed the players that they would be getting orange and green Letterman jackets for the banquet. They just had to be ordered ahead of time.

“It’s like $280 for the jacket. So, everybody is all excited. All my friends know their parents are giving them money,” Richardson recalls. “I told my momma, ‘I want that jacket. Like, I gotta get that jacket.’ She was like, ‘I don’t got the money, but we’ll see.’”

At the time, his mom had to work multiple jobs just to pay her monthly bills. Coming up with an extra $300 was not easy.

But a couple weeks later, Cleare told Richardson she had a surprise for him.

“She brings me the jacket,” he said. “I’m like, ‘How you got that?’ She didn’t tell me then, but I found out that she went and donated plasma just so she can get the money to buy the jacket for me.

“I was in shock, man. To see her sacrifice her health just to get something that I want — not something that I need but something that I want — it just showed me I’m blessed to have a mom like that.”

Richardson wore his jacket proudly on the night of the banquet, grateful that he wasn’t the only player on the J.P. Rattlers without one. Unfortunately, that was one of the few times he actually used it.

The gift from his mom didn’t last long.

“I was growing so fast, I only wore the jacket once,” Richardson said. “It was like, ‘Dang, she was willing to do that just to get me a jacket I wore once. That’s when I realized she was gonna do anything for me.”

‘Y’all about to make me cry’

“Even if I had mills I couldn’t pay you back, thinking about all that stuff you did in the past.”

Richardson shed tears on the night of the NFL Draft — first when he was selected fourth overall by the Indianapolis Colts and then when he listened to a letter from his brother — but he almost cried at the NFL Combine as well.

During his media interview at the podium, Richardson was asked if he has any plans on doing something for his mom with one of his first NFL paychecks.

“My mom, she doesn’t want me to do anything for her, you know, because she said it was her job as a mother to take care of me the way she did. You know, I’m definitely thankful for her and I love her. Y’all about to make me cry,” Richardson said, choking up. “But, I’m gonna definitely take care of my mom. Whatever she wants, she can have it. I don’t have anything in mind, but whatever she wants and she says, she can just call my name and I got it.”

Despite his struggles being raised by a single mom, Richardson said he’s thankful for his upbringing. His drive, motivation and work ethic are all qualities he learned from LaShawnda, and he says she taught him how to be a man.

When you see incredible stories like this about Richardson, just know that momma raised him right.

“I’m glad she was able to love me the way she did. It made me who I am. Now I show love to certain people because that’s all I knew from her. Just watching her do what she did. Like I said, we didn’t have much. And the way she was able to show love and help people, that’s me,” Richardson told Gators Online. “It was definitely tough growing up, but I’m glad it went the way it did. It taught me to push hard and not expect anything to be handed to me or given to me. Single mom, Northeast side of Gainesville is tough.

“You look on the East side of town, not many people have things over there. She just taught me how to persevere through certain situations and it’s led me to this point. She definitely means a lot to me. A lot of people look at their parents as parents. I look at my mom as my mom, but she’s more like my best friend. She was one of the only people I could talk to when I was younger about certain situations. If I needed anything, that’s who I went to go talk to. I was just able to connect with her on a different level and get a different type of love out of her.”