Seahawks rookie wide receiver Paul Richardson, the team’s top selection in last month’s 2014 NFL Draft, recently revealed that he might be the top choice to fill the vacated punt-returner job.

In a May 29 interview with SB Nation’s Dan Rubenstein, released on Monday, Richardson discussed his role with the team, possibly breaking news that the Hawks are looking at him to be their first choice to replace Golden Tate as the team’s punt returner.

“My role is just to come in, do what I can in special teams,” Richardson told Rubenstein. “I’m going to be a punt returner, so I look forward to doing that — making an impact and changing the game when I can from punt returns.”

While it’s almost certain that no assurances have been given to Richardson regarding the punt-returner job, his answer does seem to indicate that coaches have talked to him about making that role an emphasis in his rookie season.

Richardson didn’t return punts while playing at the University of Colorado, but his elusiveness and tremendous speed — he ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at February’s combine — could make him a natural choice for the position. He flashed his big-play ability during the Hawks’ OTAs, burning defenders on deep routes before missing the last several sessions while dealing with a minor shoulder injury.

The Seahawks’ punt-returner job is up for grabs after Tate signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions in March. All-Pro defensive backs Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman are among those lobbying to fill the spot, with head coach Pete Carroll saying on the first day of OTAs that Thomas would be the team’s first choice for the job if the season started now.

In the interview, Richardson also talked about his role in the receiving corps, saying he believed he would line up both inside and outside to “try to get me available in the open field or downfield to be able to put the ball in my hands to make a play,” he said.

He discussed his transition to the NFL, relaying his reaction after the Seahawks selected him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft on May 9.

“My life changed instantly. I couldn’t even speak when they called me,” Richardson said. “My family, they didn’t even know who was on the phone, and they all went crazy.”

A Los Angeles native, Richardson talked about his fit with the squad and familiarity with team members and coaches whom he knew from his Pac-12 days and before, including Carroll, who recruited Richardson out of high school.

In the non-football portion of the interview, Richardson revealed that his superpower of choice would be time manipulation and that the animals he’s most afraid of are ostriches. Yup, ostriches.

“I think ostriches are weird,” he told Rubenstein. “I don’t get ostriches, and I think they’re very scary. If there was an ostrich, I’d flip my lid. I’m gone. You would see a 4.2, maybe a 4.1.”

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