Anthony Richardson, a University of Florida quarterback known as "AR-15" for his initials and his uniform number, has announced he is embracing a less violent image as he heads into a season in which he is projected to be one of the top players in college football.
Richardson, who also sells a line of apparel, wrote on Twitter on Sunday that he no longer wanted to be associated with an assault weapon used in mass shootings that have horrified the nation.
"It is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the assault rifle that has been used in mass shootings, which I do not condone," he wrote on Twitter. The message became the only content on the home page of his personal website.
Another site of Richardson's, www.shopar15apparel.com, which sold T-shirts and temporary tattoos with a scope reticle, carried a message on Monday night saying that it was "no longer active."
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.
