Richard Lister

In a contrary moment amid his legal practice, Richard Lister decided to take a step off the treadmill. Having always loved sports, those playing more obscure parts particularly piqued his interest. He explored NFL game officials and their work on and off the field, writing The Third Team: NFL Officials, Their Lives, Their Stories.

He next undertook a work exploring the mysteries of the offensive line. Collaborating with renowned NFL line coach Howard Mudd, he sat with 20 past and present NFL offensive linemen to hear and write their oral histories of playing the position.

Together Lister and Mudd created The View From the O Line: Football According to NFL Offensive Linemen. Weaving the players' stories through Mudd's career timeline, the result is a book that examines the most essential yet underappreciated players on the field. Their stories woven around Mudd's career timeline provide a composite view of the truest team players in the quintessential team sport.

In 2021 Richard revisited football's arbiters in A Tough Job Made Harder: Football Officials in an Unforgiving World. Calling on some of the most prominent voices in football officiating, he looks into how changes in the game and its demands have intensified challenges to officials as well as how officiating has strengthened itself.

Richard is a graduate of UCLA and California Western School of Law. He resides with his wife, Vicky, in Marietta, Georgia.