John Riggins

Did You Know?

• On October 21, 1990, Riggins ran onto the field in full Redskins uniform during his induction into the Redskins' Ring of Fame, saying he 'just had to hear the roar of the crowd one more time.'
• At the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress, Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to 'loosen up, Sandy baby' and later fell asleep under the table.
• Riggins has six children: Robert, Portia, Emil, Liberty, Hannah, and Coco.

Early life

Riggins was born in Seneca, Kansas, and is of Irish, English, and Czech ancestry. He attended Centralia High School in Centralia, Kansas, where 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. Centralia High School is now located on John Riggins Avenue. In October 2012, Riggins and his brothers Frank and Bill dedicated the high school football field as Riggins Field in honor of their parents.

College career

Before heading to the NFL, John Riggins played college football at the University of Kansas. As a Jayhawk, he was an All-American and twice named to the All-Big Eight first team. He helped Kansas win the Big Eight title in 1968, though they fell to Penn State in the 1969 Orange Bowl by a single point. During his senior year in 1970, Riggins ran for 1,131 yards and set a school record with 14 touchdowns. He finished his career with 2,659 rushing yards, surpassing Gale Sayers’s mark at Kansas. Riggins studied journalism while in school.

Professional career

John Riggins was the first running back taken in the 1971 NFL draft, going sixth overall to the New York Jets. In his rookie season, he became the first Jet to lead the team in both rushing and receiving. On October 15, 1972, the Jets ran for a franchise-record 333 yards against the New England Patriots, winning 41-13. Riggins gained 168 yards that day, and Emerson Boozer added 150, making them the only pair of backs in team history to each rush for 150 yards in the same game.

Despite missing the last two games of 1972 due to knee surgery, Riggins finished with 944 rushing yards, just four shy of Matt Snell's club record. In 1974, he ranked among the top ten rushers in the AFC despite sitting out four games with a shoulder injury. After just four seasons, he was already the fourth-leading rusher in Jets history with 2,875 yards. In 1975, he became the first Jet to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, hitting exactly 1,005 after a 121-yard performance against the Dallas Cowboys on December 21. That year he made his only Pro Bowl appearance. He was named the Jets' MVP in both 1972 and 1975.

In 1976, Riggins signed a five-year, $1.5 million free-agent contract with the Washington Redskins, a huge jump from the $63,000 he made in his final Jets season. He was used mostly in short-yardage situations his first year and missed most of 1977 with a knee injury, but then topped 1,000 yards in each of the next two seasons. During training camp in July 1980, he asked to renegotiate his $300,000-per-year deal. The Redskins refused, so he left camp.

The team placed him on the left camp-retired list, barring him from playing for any other team. He sat out the entire 1980 season. He returned in 1981 after new head coach Joe Gibbs traveled to Kansas to make peace. Gibbs recalled Riggins wearing a camouflage outfit.

The return also came at the suggestion of NFL Players Association executive director Ed Garvey. Eleven months after leaving, Riggins came back with a new contract, telling the media, "I'm bored, I'm broke, and I'm back." In 1981, he managed just 714 rushing yards but scored 13 touchdowns.

After football

Riggins took his first acting lessons in 1994, later appearing in off-off-Broadway shows like Gillette and playing Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He also had TV roles on Guiding Light, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and One Tree Hill. His acting started in high school at Centralia High, where a teacher gave him the lead in his junior play. His professional debut came in 1992 at the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts in "Illegal Motion," playing a head football coach under fire for recruiting violations.

After retiring from football, he moved into sports commentary on both TV and radio. In 1998, he co-hosted Riggins and Russo on Sundays during football season on WCBS-TV in New York, focusing on Jets and Giants games. Since 2006, he has been a color commentator for Westwood One's national Sunday Night Football radio broadcast. On July 18, 2006, Triple X ESPN Radio launched with his own show, The John Riggins Show, airing in the D.C. area and parts of Virginia until July 18, 2008.

After Triple X merged into WTEM to form ESPN 980, his afternoon slot was replaced by The Sports Reporters, but he stayed on as a commentator at large. On January 3, 2008, he co-hosted the 74th Orange Bowl pre-game show, the same night Kansas beat Virginia Tech 24-21, 39 years after he last played in that game; he closed by congratulating his alma mater. In September 2008, he began co-hosting Sirius Blitz with Adam Schein, then launched his own show simulcast on MASN-TV and WTOP-HD3. On his radio programs, he has been openly critical of the Washington Redskins' management under Dan Snyder.