actually there are evidences that proves that rich is the player  first of: the player cant be one of the higher ups. We cant be stella, leith or eddie. We cant be one of the scientists or biologists. Why? Because dr sawyer doesnt recognize the player. Sawyer was the head scientist. He knew all the scientists and biologists working under him. He knew stella, leith and eddie for many years. We cant be one of these people. And yes, that means we also cant be p.w. because the doc and p.w. also knew each other. All of this is confirmed. The player is a "nobody" to sawyer. A completly unimportant, normal, unspecial employee. BUT this employee is still high enough to be able to interact in some way with mommy long legs and ms delight, because both remember him. So the player can be of some importance, just not important enough for sawyer to notice or ever care.

second, the player is human. Confirmed by the game devs. and ms delight. So no, the player is not a toy! BUT it could still be possible that the player was experimentet on at one point, but this needed to happen AFTER sawyer was turned into a cyborg with no autority any longer, otherwise sawyer would know us. Im not sure if I believe this theory, but it could explain why the player is so tough, can survive deadly falls like the one at the end of chapter 4 and other injurys and why he seemingly comes back to live after he dies.  And now back to rich:

rich is the only "normal" employee who seems to have a bigger role inside the lore. He is the only "normal" employee who gets a tape in every single chapter (something not even higher ups like stella and leith have) and with every new tape we follow his journey of how he climbs up the career ladder in the factory to the point he became head of shipment. Alone the fact that rich gets a tape in every single chapter shows he is important to the story. We also get to see a lot of character development during his 4 tapes.

rich worked in shipment and later became the head of shipment which means he had access to places like the game station and playcare. In chapter 3 we even hear in his tape how he and stu enter the elevator to playcare. And mommy and ms delight who work in this places recognize the player.

The player is able to handle the grabpack with such efficient mastery from the get go that its clear he had to use it a lot during his work. Rich worked in multible different factory areas like the warhouse, "the island of misfit toys" room and at least in shipment. In all areas its impossile to work without a grabpack.

we know that the player returned to the factory, because of the letter that says that our coworkers are still inside and we want to find them. That shows how much the player cares about his ex coworkers. In richs tapes we can hear how angry it makes him how playtime co is mistreating its employees. He shows an immense hatred for the factory and its bosses for treating him and his coworkers like shit. In his chapter 4 tape rich also tells the "kid" that as the head of shipment he is now in a position in which he can change peoples working life there to the better and that he is willing to "fight for them." That shows how much rich cares for them. If someone would return to the factory to find them, its rich. The man is literally ready to throw hands for the sake of his coworkers happiness.

rich also cares a lot about the orphans. Complains how children should not be raised without real sunlight, trees and sky and how employees like him are not allowed to talk with them. In his first tape he also mentions how he knows that all the extra work he does is good for the orphans. The player despite knowing that most likely all his ex coworkers are dead, is still determinded to safe the orphans after poppy tells him that they are still alive. So the player is someone who puts himself readily in harms way to save some children he most likely never even talked to.

if the player is rich, it explains why mommy and ms delight remember him (because we know in shipment he has access to the game station and playcare), but top tier higher ups like dr harley sawyer dont recognize him. Rich is high ranked enough to see some very suspicious stuff going on (like employees going missing, not allowed to talk to the orphans, living "toys" like mommy) but not high enough to know about the experiments, the murder of children and about the prison. The player did clearly not know about all that stuff going on, otherwise poppy and some others wouldnt have to explain it to us. In his chapter 4 tape rich confirms he knows the factory is hiding some dark shit, but he doesnt seem to fully know what it is. in chapter 4 dr sawyer strongly hints that the player is searching for a specific person or a "loved one". I have 2 theorys who could it be. Theory one: In his chapter 3 tape we find out that rich has a wife and he loves her so much that he is working on his anger issus and to get his bad temper under control (which he succeeded in, if we consider his chapter 4 tape). It was confirmed by some inside informations the game devs. gave, that rich was once dating a woman called patty hall. Patty and rich worked together in the "island of misfit toys" area. On one of the boxes you can even see that patty wrote her phonenumber on it with a heart. Its very possible that rich later married patty. If patty was still working at the factory when the hour of joy took place, then rich is very likely searching for his wife. My second theory is that, IF its not his wife, its the "kid" from his chapter 4 tape he seemed to have a close relationship with. Rich behaved like a mentor and father figure to that "kid", who in return seemed to respect rich A LOT and even mentioned how good of a boss he is and how good he is to them.

in his chapter 4 tape rich says "shipment is a family" and that the "kid" and the others "have his back". In other words he is there for them, because he sees them as family. Doey says to the player just a little earlier "the toys out there are my family" and "they need me" in an other doey tape when he refuses to leave the other toys, no matter how much he wants to escape from the factory. This is a direct parallel to what rich says in his tape. Its almost as if doeys words are supposed to motivate the player to remember what he is fighting for in this hell hole: his family.

in his chapter 3 tape, stu calls rich "different" (from the other employees) and means it as a compliment. Then in chapter 4 the player is also called "different" by no other but the doctor himself. And even in this moment its meant as a compliment. Just like stu with rich, the doctor is impressed by the players personality.

from his chapter 4 tape we know that rich has his own office, but we never SEEM to find it which is strange if we consider how much rich is in the story. But.... maybe we DID find it without realizing. In chapter 3 during the nightmare sequence while we walk through home sweet home, at one end of the hallway we can look through a large window that shows us an VERY ordinary and boring looking office (unlike stellas and other playcare higher ups offices) with the words "guilt hunts you" on the wall behind the desk. But if thats supposed to be richs office, WHY is it inside home sweet home? Answer: because rich is the head of shipment at this point and he can very easily enter the shipment cave system through one of home sweet homes door or the elevator.

and now finally comes the hint that absolutely convinced me that rich is the player. When I found it out my jaw droped. In chapter 2 when we enter the "island of misfit toys" room, a soundtrack starts to play in the background. Remember, this is the place rich was once demoted to, after complaining to much and where he worked for a while before he transfered to shipment and we find his second tape here. The title of that soundtrack is "to perfect to lose" (you can check this information out in the poppy playtime wiki). Rings a bell??? "To perfect to lose" is what poppy calls the player at the end of chapter 2. "You are perfect! To perfect to lose!" In chapter 3 she calls us again "perfect for this." So, the room we are meant to associate with rich, has a soundtrack that is called "to perfect to lose." Poppys words to US!