Ex-Bears CB Mike Richardson arrested on murder charge

Mike Richardson, a starting cornerback on the Bears’ 1985 championship team who identified himself as “L.A. Mike” in the pop hit “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

At around 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, Phoenix Police Department officers responded to a report of a shooting. They found an adult male, Ronald Like, 47, with a gunshot wound. He later died.

Richardson was arrested Wednesday and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder, misconduct involving weapons and a felony warrant. He is scheduled to be arraigned for the murder charge on Jan. 7, according to Maricopa County (Arizona) Court records. He was given a $1 million bond.

In court documents acquired by KTVK-TV in Phoenix, police said witness statements indicated Richardson was dealing drugs.

Richardson struggled with substance abuse after his playing days. According to the Orange County (California) Register, he had received his 21st conviction for a narcotics offense by October 2008. In 2010, he had a 13-year prison sentence cut short to 2½ years after an Orange County judge found he had not, in fact, violated probation after a narcotics-sales conviction. KNXV-TV in Phoenix reported that he was arrested twice in 2020 for drug possession.

Born in Compton, California, Richardson, 59, played at Arizona State, just miles from where he was arrested.

“We are all shocked to hear this terrible news,” said Dan Hampton, the Hall of Fame defensive lineman who played with Richardson on the Bears from 1983 to 1988. “We can only hope and pray that it may not have been Mike. He truly had a great heart and spirit. We sure hate to hear such bad news. He was our brother.”

Richardson, a second-round pick in the 1983 draft, started 80 games and appeared in eight more for the Bears. He picked off four passes during the Bears’ Super Bowl year, including one he returned for a 36-yard touchdown in a 44-0 blowout of the Cowboys.

Richardson’s best season came in 1986, when he intercepted seven passes and forced a fumble. He finished his Bears career with 20 interceptions before playing for the 49ers in 1989, his last season.