[Chiefnj2]

Thanks Herm,

"Sitting in front of his stall in the Reliant Stadium visitors' locker room, Leon Washington kept shaking his head, trying to find the words.

The Jets had just run for 190 yards in their season-opening 24-7 win over the Texans. As the conversation turned to fullback Tony Richardson, Washington had to take a few moments to find the way to appropriately describe just how vital Richardson was to the ground game.

"Man, look here," Washington said. "You find a better fullback over the last . . . I mean this guy has been playing for 16 years. He's blocked for a lot of great ones. I've got nothing but love and respect for that guy. That guy comes out every day, and every game he does his job and it seems like he's got another eight years in him."

That's probably the last thing any opponent wants to hear. The 6-1, 238-pound Richardson is still going strong at age 37, showing no sign of slowing down. He was hampered a bit in the preseason after suffering a hip pointer on the first day of tackling drills in training camp up in Cortland. But he's bounced back nicely, serving as the lead blocker and bowling ball that knocks the pins down to pave the way for the Jets' stable of running backs.

Richardson, who's in his second year with the Jets, had two crushing blocks that sprung Thomas Jones on his way to a 106-yard, two-touchdown performance in the second half. On Jones' 38-yard touchdown run, he clocked Nick Ferguson as the safety was coming in from the right side, leveling him so hard that Ferguson crumpled to the turf.

He also sealed the right side of the line beautifully on Jones' 39-yard burst midway through the fourth quarter, locking up cornerback Brice McCain to give Jones a gaping hole to run through.

"There were some plays earlier in the first half that I was like, dang, I wish I would have gotten a better hit on this guy or whatever," Richardson said. "But that's just how the running game is. It's violent and really it's not always going to be perfect."