Quarterback Known as ‘AR-15’ Changes Nickname, Citing Mass Shootings

In an interview posted yesterday by the sports media group High Top Sports, Mr. Richardson attributed the decision to “talking to my team” — “you know, my management team,” he clarified — and added, “There’s a lot of stuff going on with AR-15s and shooting and stuff, and a lot of people hit me up just talking about it, asking me if I was supporting that stuff.”

He continued, “I don’t want people thinking I’m that type of person.”

This summer alone has seen several mass shootings, including at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, and at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, where a gunman killed 10 Black people in a racist attack. Both gunmen used AR-15-style rifles.

In Florida, a jury is now weighing whether to give the death penalty to Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty to killing 17 people and injuring 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He, too, used a gun resembling an AR-15.

Representatives of Mr. Richardson did not immediately reply to a request for a comment on Monday night about whether anything in particular had prompted his decision.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/18/sports/ar-15-anthony-richardson-nickname-change.html