A Road Well Traveled

Former Division II walk-on Richard Angulo has found a home in the NFL.

by TRISTEN CRITCHFIELD

You don’t remember Richard Angulo.

Sure, maybe you’re aware of the Jacksonville Jaguars tight end with the New Mexico roots who caught his first NFL touchdown against Oakland last December.

Or you saw that same player – 6-feet, 8-inches, 266 pounds, with Angulo stitched on the back of his No. 85 jersey – blocking for Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor as the Jaguars pushed the then-undefeated Patriots to the brink of elimination in the AFC semifinals.

And you took pride in hearing that Angulo played his high school and college ball in New Mexico. You nodded approval as you saw his name listed in the local watch in the newspaper.

“Lobos or Aggies?” you wondered.

Photo by Tristen Critchfield

Angulo's football career began rather modestly on the Sandia High School practice field. The Jacksonville tight end remembers catching about three passes as a Matador.

Try Western New Mexico.

From high school unknown to Division II walk-on to the National Football League: Angulo’s career has not followed a traditional arc.

That’s why you don’t remember him. He didn’t peak in high school or in college.

For Angulo, the best may be yet to come.

Humble Beginnings
In 1997, Angulo concluded his senior season at Sandia High School.

The NFL had to be the furthest thing from his mind.

“I can actually remember catching about three passes,” he said, chuckling.

His mother’s first memory of her son the football player was of a thin young man in oversized pads.

“When he was in high school he had his height, but he didn’t have his weight,” Virginia Angulo said. “When I saw him coming out he had these big shoulder pads on. He came out with the other guys, and he was so tall – the shoulder pads were so big.”

College recruiters weren’t knocking down the door at the Angulo residence.

“A coach from New Mexico State called and asked if I wanted to walk on,” Angulo said. “I said no.”

Instead, Angulo walked on at Division II Western New Mexico.

Four years, two inches and some forty pounds later, he was named Little All-America third team by the NFL Draft report after his senior season.

“It (the NFL) was in the back of my head,” Angulo said. “I talked to my coach, he said, ‘Hey, you could have a shot.’”

He called his mom after his final game and told her there had been someone there to watch him play.

“I was like oh my God, this is really real,” she said. “That’s when it hit. It was amazing.”

Angulo was chosen by the St. Louis Rams with the 254th pick in the 2003 draft. He was just eight spots away from being Mr. Irrelevant, the last player picked in the entire draft.

A Journeyman’s Road

Angulo said he came into the league on a high note.

“St. Louis gave me a lot of opportunity. I just didn’t capitalize on it. Windows in the NFL are pretty small,” he said.

The Rams cut him in November of his first season.

The window of opportunity in the NFL is small, but the adjustments to the professional game are substantial.

“Coming from a small school to a (then head coach) Mike Martz offense was apples and oranges,” he said. “I never knew how hard the NFL really was.”

Angulo was signed almost immediately by the Minnesota Vikings following his release. His three-year stint with the Vikings was spent bouncing between the practice squad, injured reserve, and finally, the active roster. He made his first career catch on Christmas Day 2005 against Baltimore.

Angulo’s Vikings career ended when he was waived just prior to the start of the 2006 season. He then spent various amounts of time on practice squads in Chicago, Cleveland and then Jacksonville.

Bouncing from team to team, year to year, can take its toll, but his mom said he never complained.

“He never did talk about that. When he was on the practice squad, it was part of an experience to make him stronger,” she said. “Mentally, when things come too easy for you they are not appreciated. I would tell him things happen for a reason.”

In a pattern that was becoming all too familiar, Angulo was waived by Jacksonville just before the beginning of the 2007 season.

“I really thought I was on my way out last year,” he said. “No one was picking me up. It was the first time I was sitting at home watching NFL games.”

A Kindred Spirit
Jacksonville tight ends coach Mike Tice had been there before. An undrafted free-agent quarterback out of Maryland, who, by his own admission, lacked the arm strength to play the position in the NFL, Tice managed to carve out a 14-year career in the league as a tight end.

When Tice was the head coach at Minnesota, his brother (and assistant coach) John made him aware of a quiet, young tight end who might have a future as a pass catcher.

“When I first met him I thought, unless he starts coming out of his shell, he doesn’t have a chance,” Tice said in a phone interview from Jacksonville.

Angulo said he noticed the ex-player’s tendency toward keeping a lot of tight ends in Minnesota.

“He definitely has a soft spot. The last year he was in Minnesota, he had five (tight ends),” Angulo said. “That’s pretty much unheard of. He has a soft spot for free agent, low-round guys, because he was a free agent too.”

Tice was fired in Minnesota, but he didn’t forget about Angulo when he was added to Jack Del Rio’s staff in Jacksonville.

“It’s important to me and Jack to give free agents a chance to compete. Making the team as a free agent is the only thing that matters to these guys. Guys that are drafted don’t always feel the same way. Sometimes you find a diamond in the rough like Rich,” Tice said.

Jacksonville brought Angulo back in November after having released him two months earlier. He caught his first touchdown pass and played in the first two playoff games of his career.

“He played really good football for us down the stretch. We like having him around,” Tice said.

Looking Ahead
So far, 2008 has been a good year for Angulo.

He got engaged on Valentine’s Day. And a couple weeks later the journeyman tight end signed a three-year contract to remain in Jacksonville.

“No contract is ever guaranteed,” Angulo said. “There’s still going to be competition going into training camp this year. That’s the most faith they’ve shown me as far as a contract goes.”

Tice said Angulo is the team’s clear No. 2 tight end right now.

A little money and job security haven’t changed Angulo much, said former high-school teammate and close friend Robert Vigil.

“He’s just a regular old dude. He doesn’t go out and spend a bunch of money,” Vigil said. It’s the same relationship we would have even if he wasn’t in the league.

“Moneywise, he hasn’t changed at all. He’s the same Richard Angulo as I’ve known before. He’s 100 percent committed to the league. We’ll go out and do other stuff instead of going out to a club or bar.”

Angulo said last season was the first time he felt like people were counting on him to have a role. Now he wants to make himself a better blocker. He’s not sure about improving upon his touchdown reception total, however.

“I’m not a speed demon or anything, they’re not gonna be splitting me out wide,” he said. “I have to get better blocking and be more valuable to the coaches.”

Tice appreciates Angulo’s blocking skills, but said he would like to see him develop as a pass catcher as well.

“I’m not a fan of the one-dimensional tight-end. I look forward to seeing him develop in the passing game,” Tice said. “He’s a good blocker at the point of attack, on the backside of runs and in pass protection.”

You don’t remember Richard Angulo.

It’s OK.

He’s working hard to make sure you see him in the present.

Written April 21, 2008

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