Forever a Cowboy

Ville Platte attorney Richard Vidrine will be honored for his stellar career as a McNeese Cowboy gridiron player in an induction ceremony on September 17; a ceremony that came awfully close to never happening.
You see, Vidrine was not recruited out of high school to play for the Cowboys. In fact, the 5’8, 135 pound linebacker/halfback never intended to go to McNeese after graduating from Ville Platte High in 1966. Instead, the tenacious litigator had chosen U.S.L. (Now U.L.L.) as the school to gain his undergraduate degree.
But, in what we know now as an ever important twist of fate for McNeese sports lore, Vidrine received a call just 10 days before the Cowboys were to open camp that fall. That call led to what would become one of the greatest football careers in McNeese history.
“Coming out of high school, I was not recruited, probably because I only weighed 135 lbs. as a senior” stated Vidrine. “About 10 days before football practice began at McNeese I received a phone call. It was my high school coach, Ard Hamlin. He said there was someone at the stadium that wants to meet me. When I got there, Coach Jim Clark, the head coach at McNeese told me he was interested in having me play for them. I was offered a one semester scholarship and I signed it at home.”
At Ville Platte High, Vidrine was part of probably the greatest Bulldog football squad ever his senior season. In the fall of 1965, Ville Platte went undefeated throughout the entire season and the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record was a 0-0 tie with Bunkie. Only 24 total points were scored upon them during the season. That same team also produced another hall of famer, Glenn Lafleur, who is now part of ULL’s ring of honor.
“That team was so special,” Vidrine said emphatically. “As a senior group, we got together and decided we were going to do what it takes to win, because we had not won many ball games in the previous three years. We worked hard and things gelled and we had a fantastic year.”
Speaking of twists of fate, Vidrine’s presence at Ville Platte may have also been an act of Providence.
“I did not attend Ville Platte High until I was in the sixth grade,” commented Vidrine. “At that time there was a trend with the families that lived in the Tate Cove community. After making confirmation in the fifth grade at Sacred Heart School, a number of kids would leave there and go to Ville Platte High. I wasn’t looking to change schools, but my friends from that area were transferring and asked me to go with them. I talked to my parents and they let me go.”
Vidrine got his first taste of football at Ville Platte High as an eighth grader and played through his freshman year. He did not play as a sophomore because of an obligation he could not get out of; working in the rice fields.
“When the season started my sophomore year, the team was going on a fall team camp,” said Vidrine. “I could not make it because I was cutting rice. When school started, I asked if I could join the team, but was told I couldn’t because I had missed camp.’
Vidrine rejuvenated his football career as a junior and finished as one of the two best linebackers ever to don the pads for the purple and white and arguably in the history of the parish. From there it was on to Lake Charles and a date with the hall of fame.
At McNeese, Vidrine earned his way to a starting spot by the time he was in his second year. Earning that position took a lot of heart, as Vidrine had to work his way up from the scout team as a freshman.
“Being on the scout team was tough sledding,” Vidrine stated. “But, in the spring of my second year we had a last scrimmage and I had to play linebacker the whole time against the first and second team offense. I really had a great scrimmage and the next day in a team meeting, Coach Clark told the squad ‘We would have had a good scrimmage if it wasn’t for Vidrine’. From then on I wasn’t on the scout squad and wound up starting the next season.”
Vidrine took full advantage of his starting position while at McNeese. During his illustrious career, the hard-nosed tackler earned All-Gulf States Conference honors as a linebacker in 1970 and as a defensive end in 1968.
He was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1970 and garnered the team’s MVP honors that year after he led the team with 104 tackles; which was a school record at the time.
Vidrine also earned spot on the All-American team and his 269 career tackles was a career school mark at the end of his playing days.
During his playing days for the Cowboys, Vidrine and his team went head to head with two of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of football; Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach. The Cowboys were 5-1 against the Hall of Fame duo.
Interestingly enough, football was not the only sport that Vidrine participated in while in college. He also picked up a sport that he had not took part in since he was in the fourth grade at Sacred Heart; boxing.
“When I was younger, I was on the boxing team at Sacred Heart,” said Vidrine. “But, boxing faded out. So, when I was in college someone told me to use boxing as a way to stay in shape during the offseason. I joined the Ville Platte boxing club, led by Mr. Gervais Lafleur and fought for him. And, I did that all the way through my time at McNeese.”
Vidrine did not just participate in boxing to keep in shape; he also excelled at it, just like he has done in everything he has participated in. In fact, Vidrine was good enough to win a Gold Glove’s title as a middleweight.
After his stint on the field of play at McNeese, Vidrine went on to law school at LSU and began a practice here in his hometown; even at one time being the Chief Prosecutor for the District Attorney’s office.
Since then, he and his wife of 41 years, Cindy, have enjoyed raising their three daughters and watching their grandchildren grow up.
But for all his numerous accomplishments in high school, college and in his profession, being inducted into the McNeese Hall of Fame is still very special to Vidrine.
“I am so honored and humbled by the nomination,” Vidrine stated whole-heartedly. “To be one of 56 football players to be in the Hall of Fame is a great feeling. It really is a terrific honor and blessing. I do not know how I was nominated, but I intend to find out to thank them.”
What a way to honor a career and more importantly, what a way to honor a lifetime of achievements!