Eventually growing into a rather large and powerful man, he attended the University of Kansas under a full four-year scholarship to play varsity football, majoring in music education.

Richie Pratt’s prolific tenure as a first-call percussionist on the highly competitive New York City music scene began after he suffered a career-ending injury during his second season with the Giants.

Bassist Major Holley eventually invited Pratt to jam on Sundays at Jacques, which resulted in Junior Mance hearing him play drums and offering him his first paid gig as a drummer in New York.

Initially described in the New York press as a "bubbling cauldron of musical vitality", Pratt subsequently added musical diversity to his cauldron by performing with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey; in the Broadway hits: Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Dude; Raisin; and notably, Pratt was the drum soloist in Broadway's smashing tribute to Duke Ellington, Sophisticated Ladies.

On October 6, 2012, Pratt returned home to the mainland to live in the midwest and remained based permanently in his native Kansas City metropolitan area.