John Riggins

Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks. Riggins was known for his "bell cow" running style and productivity well into the later years of his career.

In 1983, Riggins rushed for a then-NFL record of 24 touchdowns and led the league in rushing touchdowns the following season. Although he earned only one Pro Bowl appearance in his career, Riggins had his greatest success in the postseason and was named MVP of Super Bowl XVII where he scored one touchdown and rushed for 166 yards in the win for the Redskins. Riggins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

Early life Riggins was born in Seneca, Kansas, and is of Irish, English, and Czech ancestry, and attended Centralia High School in Centralia, Kansas. While there, he was a three-sport athlete, earning high school All-American recognition in football, all-state honors in basketball and twice winning the Class B 100-yard dash state title. Riggins high school is now located on John Riggins Avenue, which runs through a main part of Centralia. In October 2012, John with his brothers Frank (Junior) and Bill Riggins were on hand to dedicate the Centralia High School football field renaming it Riggins Field in honoring their parents, Franklin Eugene and Mildred Riggins.

College career Riggins attended the University of Kansas and played for the Jayhawks, where he was an All-American and two-time All-Big Eight Conference first-team selection. The team then went to the 1969 Orange Bowl, which they lost to Penn State, 15–14.

While at Kansas, Riggins majored in journalism.

Professional career New York Jets Riggins was the first running back selected in the 1971 NFL draft, at sixth in the first round, by the New York Jets. As a rookie he became the first Jet to lead the team in both rushing and receiving. On October 15, 1972, the Jets set a team-record of 333 rushing yards against the New England Patriots, beating them 41–13. Riggins, who had 168 yards, and Emerson Boozer, who had 150 yards, became the only running back tandem in franchise history who both rushed for 150 yards in a game. On December 21, 1975, he ran for 121 yards against the Dallas Cowboys which gave him 1,005 for the season.

Washington Redskins

In 1976, Riggins signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins, He was used mostly in short-yardage situations in his first season with Washington and missed much of the 1977 season with a knee injury. He then chose to leave camp and the Redskins placed him on the left camp-retired list, a move that made him ineligible to play for any other team in the league.

"He had a camouflage outfit on", Gibbs recalled. He had been hunting, him and a buddy. He had a beer can in his hand. It was 10 o'clock in the morning and he's meeting his coach for the first time and I'm thinking [sarcastically], 'This guy really impresses me.' But I went in there, and halfway through the conversation he says, 'You need to get me back there. I'll make you famous. and ran for a 43-yard touchdown. The Super Bowl win was the Redskins' first championship victory since 1942. Riggins' total of 610 yards amounted to 43 percent of Washington's offense in the four playoff games.

The 610 rushing yards and 625 yards from scrimmage he gained in the 1982 playoffs are both single NFL postseason records.

In 1983, Riggins rushed for 1,347 yards, scored a then-NFL record 24 touchdowns, won the Bert Bell Award,

Two other career milestones happened in the 1983 season for Riggins. On November 20, 1983, he set an NFL record by scoring in his 12th consecutive game during a 42–20 win over the Los Angeles Rams. His record would end at 13 consecutive games the following week. Then on December 17, 1983, Mark Moseley set an NFL kicking record by scoring 161 points in a season, which also made him the league leader in scoring that season. Riggins, who scored 144 points, was second on the season scoring list. This was the first time since 1951 that the top two scorers in a season played on the same team.

Legacy On October 21, 1990, Riggins and Joe Theismann were inducted into the Redskins' Ring of Fame. As Riggins's name was called, he ran onto the field in full Redskins uniform, including pads, and was received by the crowd at RFK Stadium with thunderous applause. Riggins later explained that he "just had to hear the roar of the crowd one more time".

In 1992, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On October 13, 2007, Riggins was inducted into the University of Kansas' Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium. 518 !! 2,659 !! 5.1 !! 19 !! 9 !! 67 !! 7.4 !! 2

Career highlights

Awards and honors NFL Super Bowl champion (XVII) Super Bowl MVP (XVII) NFL Comeback Player of the Year (1978) First-team All-Pro (1983) Pro Bowl (1975) 2× NFL rushing touchdowns leader (1983, 1984) NFL 1980s All-Decade Team Bert Bell Award (1983) Washington Redskins 90 Greatest Washington Redskins Ring of Fame Pro Football Hall of Fame (1992)

College 2× First-team All-Big Eight (1968, 1970) University of Kansas Ring of Honor (2007)

NFL records Most rushing attempts and rushing yards in a single postseason: 136 attempts, 610 yards; 4 playoff games (1982) Oldest player to rush for 150+ yards in a game: 35 years, 71 days Oldest player to rush for 3 touchdowns in a game: 36 years, 70 days Oldest player to have a game with 100+ rushing yards & 1 rushing touchdown: 36 years, 84 days Oldest player to have 30+ rushing attempts in a game: 36 years, 84 days Oldest player to rush for 100+ yards in a playoff game: 34 years, 157 days (breaking his own record he set one week earlier) Oldest player to rush for 150+ yards in a playoff game: 33 years, 179 days Oldest player to rush for 175+ yards in a playoff game: 33 years, 164 days Most 100-yard rushing games after 35th birthday: 8 Most games with 20 rushing attempts after 35th birthday: 11 Oldest player to have 300+ rushing attempts in a season: 35 Oldest player to have 1,200 rushing yards in a season: 35 Oldest player to have 10+ rushing touchdowns in a season: 35 Oldest player to score 20+ touchdowns in a season: 34 Oldest player to have 350+ rushing attempts in a season: 34 Oldest player to have 1,300 rushing yards in a season: 34 Oldest player to have 20+ rushing touchdowns in a season: 34 Most rushing attempts after 30th birthday: 1,510 Most rushing touchdowns after 30th birthday: 71 Most games with 20 rushing attempts after 30th birthday: 36 Only running back in NFL history with more rushing yards in his 30s than in his 20s.

After football

Acting In 1994, he began acting lessons and has since starred in off-off-Broadway productions of the plays Gillette and A Midsummer Night's Dream (in which he played Bottom). His television credits include Guiding Light, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and One Tree Hill.

On July 18, 2006, Triple X ESPN Radio was launched with Riggins hosting The John Riggins Show. Riggins could be heard in the Washington, D.C. area weekdays from 4-7pm on 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM & 730 AM, WXGI 950 AM in Richmond, Virginia and WXTG-FM 102.1 FM in Virginia Beach, Virginia and WXTG (AM) 1490 in Hampton, Virginia.

In 2016, Riggins returned to ESPN 980 Redskins radio in a variety of roles. Weekly appearances consisted of a one-hour appearance on Tuesdays with Bram Weinstein, a Thursday appearance on Moving Drive with Kevin Sheehan & Chris Cooley and a Friday appearance on Inside The Locker Room with Doc Walker, Brian Mitchell and Scott Jackson. Additionally, Riggins co-hosted the Washington Redskins Radio Network pregame show with Kevin Sheehan before every Redskins game.

Personal life Riggins has been married twice and has six children: Robert, Portia, Emil, Liberty, Hannah and Coco.

It was at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up, Sandy baby" because she was "too uptight" when the two met at dinner. Riggins then fell asleep under the table. The next time Justice O'Connor and John Riggins met at a function years later, he gave her a dozen roses.