Risher is a member of Virginia’s football statistics crew, an unpaid position he has held for over half a century.

In a digital age, he still records statistics the old-fashioned way — with pen and paper — as a backup in case technology fails.

But his connection to Virginia football goes beyond numbers — the athletic program has been his “lifeblood,” as one friend of Risher’s puts it — and long precedes his involvement with the statistics crew. He is Virginia’s oldest living former player, having participated in one game in 1931. And he’s been watching Virginia football since 1919.

Risher, who has lively, light blue eyes and a full head of silver hair, recalls dates, names, addresses and scores dating back nearly 100 years. He speaks with a Virginia accent, and his voice is inflected with humor, as if a punch line is always imminent. He maintains eye contact. He plays jokes on friends, often grumpily acting confused — before flashing a knowing and mischievous smile.

He is also a physical marvel: He played tennis until he was 85, and he mowed his lawn until he was 105. At his 106th birthday party, he balanced a spoon on his nose.

He easily passed his most recent eye exam at the Department of Motor Vehicles, he said, back when he was 100. His driver’s license will expire when he is 108. (“He drives like a teenager — a little too fast,” his friend Parker Lee said.) Risher still occasionally drives to games from his home in Lynchburg, over an hour away.

Risher has a pacemaker and hearing aids, but he walks without assistance and has had almost no serious health problems.