John Riggins: A Football Life

they called him the diesel now he's clearing some space at his house and he's firing up that diesel one more time [Music] comes the big guy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Rickon is wearing him down that's right he's starting to run [Music] he's gonna give you a little rider's right [Applause] [Music] the work is done everything's in order finally after over 16 years so is the football life of John Riggins [Music] convinced me that life is a team [Music] I was daydreamed about being a mountain man I wonder I see the redwoods I don't want to see the Rocky Mountains I wanted to see the Painted Desert the Petrified Forest the Grand Canyon that was think through the land that I always wanted to go to and just go off into the wilderness and make my way [Music] the Riggins house was small but Centralia Kansas had plenty of open fields for the three boys Frank John and Bill yet it just wasn't big enough for John I grew up in style log 13 everything is in barbed wire every 160 acres basically was surrounded by barbed wire and inside that was more marble hard to separate different fields I think psychologically I think I've always been felt something what maybe in prison and then of course my dad made a good warden there's no question about that [Music] Frank Riggins senior had few opportunities as a child the former Marine was determined that his boys would he went by his middle name Jean and while he was the toughest on his middle son John all three feared him he didn't ever really share love with you more than anything it was never good enough you know you're never good enough at what you're doing in sports Frank jr. was plenty good enough he was genes favorite Jr set the state record in the hundred yard dash was the starting quarterback at Centralia high and one of the best pitchers in Kansas I was just what he called Ed McMahon - Frank's Johnny Carson he was called Hawkeye was one of his nicknames the old pro may I you know I was fat so so there was discrepancy right there - you know fatty fat so tubby I mean my mom would say it was love of course but still that's like such a good self-image when we were growing up you know they'd always race and Frank could beat me but he'd only beat me by about a yard you know leading by step and I'm giving up two years damn but the old man never factored that in he didn't grade on a curve yeah you're still number two fatso man ham had our issues I don't even really know what the issues were but there were so we just kind of went our separate ways and that has changed which I'm really tickled about while jr. walked in lockstep with his father John danced to a different drum he was more like his mother Millie he played the sousaphone in the band and loved to run but he found that even a wide open track was too small for him I was like a double wide I almost needed two lanes compared to everybody else was in a racing they're going who in the hell is that guy down there running in Lane three my god what's he doing here by his senior year John was a muscular 220 pounds he wasn't regal yet but he wasn't fatso anymore he became the pride of NEMA Hawk County and the new state record holder in the hundred the more I think about it's been so long but it was kind of nice to see the nine-eight beside Frank's 99 a hundred-yard football field suited him best there was lots of open space and when jr. left an open spot at quarterback he was the only guy I ever held out of practice because he ended up hurting too many of the his own players and I remember even getting in an argument with gene and gene would say juniors gonna make a gingers gonna go to college juniors gonna do this juniors gonna do that and I said gene junior is a great high school player he's going to be a great college player but John is the one that's going to be playing pro football someday Riggins led Centralia to a championship in his last game he left no doubt that he was the best player in the family and all of Kansas he rushed for over 400 yards through for 80 or 90 and he scored 37 points he was just unbelievable John's talents could have taken him far away to college instead he found himself right next to his father in nearby Lawrence he played for pepper Rodgers at Kansas it was that choice that you know you can go anywhere you want to fat boy but you know well at the University of Kansas it was that was the tacit understanding I think Jr was already there they were both the same kind of guys tough solid really good football players John was just a little bigger the two played together for one season gene watch them carefully here I was actually accomplishing quite a bit in my own right and it was swept off the table to deal with the fact that the Frank wasn't getting his cares he wasn't getting enough in the spotlight so yeah it wasn't you know it was just another hobby just looking forward to having a beer after the game that's all after Frank graduated John rushed for over 1100 yards his senior season and broke nearly all of Gale Sayers records finally John would get to see the country Riggins was headed for the Big Apple [Music] in 1971 a telegram arrived at the Riggins house from head coach weeb Ewbank John was the first round pick of the New York Jets his half row really stood out to begin with and John when he walked he had a little Bop to him and besides that he had the booty out there so the brothers on the team decided I mean they just knew that John had a little blood in him and so they nicknamed him chocolate chip it didn't take long for Joe Namath to learn that John was also a chip off the old block sitting around in a bar in New York a tavern and his dad dipped snuff and I dipped snuff and I had a little spit glass and I'd have my drink here and I'd be spitting in my glass and I'm watching his dance dad never spit and I said well what do you do he swallowed the tobacco this is John I see where John got to be a tough guy to do things his way too [Music] in just his second season Riggins gained nearly a thousand yards his size was obvious [Music] his speed however kind of snuck up on you they're moving along here on a 65 or 70 AD which is a good speed but this big tractor trailer pulls up the side she blows by it that was Riggins what I didn't have didn't have a good set of brakes so for me to start down shifting that load and making a dude I had a little bit of a wrinkle but not much the smaller you get the more of you I can take not that I'm gonna shoot for it but if you have to get my way then that's what's gonna go and I like it my running South it's kind of like growing up on a farm not on a farm but having cattle and being around cattle you know it would always be 1 or 2 and the herd they weren't like the other docile cattle they were a little aloof eventually though you had to get them all you know into the into the pen to load him up to take him to another pasture whatever you take that one critter out there that was on his own and he started condensing his space you were going to get that space to where he no longer felt comfortable and it was too tight and he was coming out he's gonna run today like that critter will and that's all I did I'd find that spot and that's kind of like you you push me squeeze me down enough then I was gonna have to turn and make my motors and that's kind of what in 1973 his third season with the Jets John made his boldest move [Music] you know what I always wanted a mohawk haircut but my parents would not let me have one so I said hey I'm gonna get myself so I just start growing it out that was basically was kind of okay folks there's a new shooter here and I'm sure you know the message was intended for my dad once overshadowed by Frank and overlooked by his father Riggins now felt ignored because of named as long as Joe is in town he'll not be a thousand-yard Russian because we throw the ball [Music] in 1975 his fifth season in New York John played without a contract and did rush for a thousand yards I realized in that moment that physically speaking Mike talents were well beyond his talents so then I realized that well this isn't what am I doing here this doesn't make sense because it's always gonna be about you then rightfully so he's the one that made a name for himself and I liken it to the westerns as long as Joe was gonna be in town you know I was gonna have you know he was the sheriff and I was the bad guy he was kind of figuratively telling me that you know what's good for you you'll be on the news stage coming up he gave everything any player could ever give in that particular game and I believe that that defeat was so crushing to him that he walked away when I was growing up in in in Kansas I was always second fiddle to mobile - brother Frank and then when I went to New York it certainly felt like I was second fiddle to Joe but then when I came down to Washington I wasn't even a fiddle that's because Redskins head coach George Allen pulled the strings he was a defensive mastermind who thought little of fullbacks they had a system basically that was really built around the halfback so I looked into a manifold bag there's a lot of blogging here so in the background mind but I'm thinking me up and I'm you know I'm taller Riggins I mean I just gained 2,000 yards yeah they wouldn't do that oh yes they would do this I was actually a damn good blocker in college and I just kind of something you lose your taste for if you run back it ain't really in your best interest so anyway I became blocking back for George Allen period end of story there was no ifs and buts or words about it and I was not happy Don hey John even went to George Allen one time and said hey why don't you give me a sixty number since I'm gonna only get the ball once or twice a game you know John was a little frustrated with George Allen [Music] Jack Pardee replaced Allen in 1978 and Riggins had back-to-back thousand yard seasons [Music] the Redskins face Dallas in the season finale with the division title on the line brigands rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns he gave everything any player could ever give in that particular game I remember handing the ball off up the middle and watching John bear out to the right and run up the sidelines like a 60 yard touchdown run I mean the safeties had angles on him and he outran the angles he was unbelievable in that football [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the final minutes Roger Staubach through two touchdown passes the Redskins lost a playoff spot by a single point I mean after that I was pretty much defeated and it looked back on it and there was a lot of things going on but it to me it was kind of like well okay this is as good as it's gonna get that defeat was so crushing to him that he walked away I've got nothing more left in the tank to be able to help this football team win at the age of 30 John Riggins retired he went back home to Kansas [Music] [Music] I have resigned my position of fullback for the above corporation effective one o'clock p.m. Sunday July 27 1980 happy trails to you until we meet again signed John Rogers John Riggins sat out the entire 1980 season the following year Joe Gibbs was hired as head coach of the Redskins he went to Kansas to try to convince John to come back I need him at the back door I've got a Budweiser in each hand and yogurt by the way this isn't good when you're on a job interview I would not recommend this to anybody meeting the boss with a beer in each hand but maybe being me so you know I drank my beer and I dragged Jose and we sat down and we had breakfast and then you know we discussed a few things he leaned across the table and he goes you need to get me back there I'll make you famous just like that you know so I'm looking like this I'm looking the guy and I go in my mind I'm going oh my gosh this guy is an egomaniac I'm gonna get stuck coaching a nut for ten years and obviously I think in the back of mind I said this I said I'll get him back I'll trade him I get rid of the free cake I'm straight in for first this is perfect and two days later I get a phone call that's John and he goes Joe there's only one thing I won't put my contract and I said what's that he said a no-trade well now I tell everybody somebody up there is licking out after me well I'll start by saying I'm bored I'm broke and I'm back just like they've always been it's almost like I hadn't been going I'm tired just running up and down the field by myself but you know I have to laying off this as long as that wild mountain man said and it better be good [Music] Gibbs unleash triggers he wasn't a beautiful run he was a powerful runner but his power was beautiful to watch I had the perfect angle that every cameraman would die for to be able to see him go through holes to see him use his ability his quickness his athletic ability he was just everything you want in a great big running back you didn't hit John John hit you I can't ever recall somebody putting John on his back that just wasn't going to happen no one would take John on because it was all shoulder pads giant thigh pads and knees and he was a relentless trainer I mean yeah he ran hard off the field but he was always the last guy running gassers trying to get I'm sure something out of his system and get himself into shape as always John did it his way call Nast hey can we work out early tomorrow I said sure what time and he said well I need to be in a duck blind in Baltimore before the Sun comes up spice it up how about 3:30 and he said sure and 3:30 he was there we had a cup of coffee and turn the music up and from the beginning to the end he just went at it and one duck hunting after practice Rigo would hurt his offensive lineman into the Redskins equipment shed 5 o'clock club was a means for the select few to get together solve a lot of world's problems over a couple of 12-ounce curls we even had a president it was self anointed it was John he called himself El Presidente yeah who self-report I would saw the point that with elections I fancied myself as that guy you know I was the one that kind of what he called needled everybody but it was always about fun and games it wasn't we're in there needle mapping out strategies of what we were gonna do on Sunday it was a social hour Jon's the character of the characters that were part of that football team I've been a bad boy he's the lead act Riggins John knucklehead John wasn't afraid to buck the establishment John wasn't afraid to do something out of the ordinary if the band was playing John had his own drums that he was beating on I do have a drinking problem but that's only when I'm hanging from the rafters by my knees I think that the biggest misconception is is that that he is a clown and he's not a clown he's a showman instead and he knows intuitively the right thing to do and yet do it in a colorful way football was never my life interesting the guys the relationships were my life I have an ability to be able to relate to Dan there to everybody and I sat beside a sitting president at dinner and you know been around vice presidents and been around vice president became presidents and at the same time you know you can used to hang out with the equipment guys I take on all comers base [Music] plenty of coal in my bag for everybody it wasn't anything that I was there was anything foreboding about my intentions that I had altered it was always pure and you know it was always in the vein of having fun and making and making them laugh so I think that's why it works that way and that's what I did that's how I give back the fans loved him right back and in 1982 Rigo gave them everything he had [Applause] [Music] after five non-winning years in New York and a heartbreaking defeat in Dallas in 1979 the time had finally come for John Riggins the stage is being set finally I'm getting the opportunity the only thing I've really ever wanted outside of getting a paycheck this is what you play for an opportunity to get to the Super Bowl Riggins had never started in a playoff game before so he did something he'd never done before he went to Gibbs and said load the wagon give me the ball you didn't hear from John Riggins Oh give me the ball give me the ball I can make a difference when John made a statement like that you know it's like let's all sit up in our chairs a little bit and listen because that means that he's ready to go yeah give him the full [Applause] [Music] boom we fly off the ball getting into your guy get him turned a little bit out of the way because when rego was coming through he take all three of you [Music] in the first round of the playoffs the diesel ran for 119 yards then topped that total the next week against the Vikings [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] brigands final stats that day 37 carries 185 yards two touchdowns memorable bow so I'm coming off the field the crowd there's just this crescendo as it gets louder and louder and all I could you know I just stopped and I thought well I should acknowledge this so I took my helmet off and you know I crossed my arms and I bowed but it was just that spontaneous moment it felt like the right thing to do [Applause] an earlier loss to the Cowboys had made Riggins quit the game three years later he faced them again [Music] this time a trip to Super Bowl 17 was at stake [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the diesel rumbled for 140 yards and totaled a record 610 in the 82 postseason [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we got to the Super Bowl junior and I are Frank and I were together with John and it was just a moment of knowing that he got to the place he wanted to be I wasn't thinking about the Dolphins I wasn't said there's one hmm because I'm a running back I didn't know what was gonna happen on Sunday afternoon and I love him you snap the ball you give it to me you guys do whatever you got to do I'll figure it out be in the moment against the NFL's number one defense Riggins rushed for then Superbowl record 166 yards and was named MVP [Music] his moment came in the fourth quarter with the Redskins trailer and 42 yards of open space implemented we all know what's gonna happen the inevitable is this I'm gonna get the football and I'm going to either go this way or I'm gonna go that way so you've got to you know like dirty air do you feel lucky today goal line goal line I love cycling seven you chip on my ribs come here come to be [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] giving the Redskins the lead in Super Bowls it was awesome it was awesome exactly the way the word was meant to be used and it was 100% pure exhilaration Regan have beaten the Miami Dolphins 27 to 17 it was well you could say figuratively it was orgasmic still to come everybody's at the party and don't leave it's all sin so justice o'connor's getting ready to leave and of course that's when I done a famous words loosen up Sandy baby chicory not as good a firewood as you can get now there's easier ways to do this but these are Swedish splitting balls made by hand and hand forge hard to beat you could actually shave with this thing John Riggins is in his 60s but he's as strong as a man in his 20s even more amazing what he did in his 30s Riggins gained more yards in his 30s than he did in his 20s at the age of 34 he ran for a career-high 1347 yards and a then-record 24 touchdowns two years later Riggins retired but he continued to leave his mark in Washington well I'd been with a good friend of mine most of that afternoon having a few beers got home put on my tuxedo didn't bother to eat went down to the hotel where the party was walk-in and got a little why because I really hardly ever drank it but I had a double scotch he says and then I had another one I understand that we're going to be seated at the same table tonight there were two bottles of red wine and John and a very expressive mode managed to mobilize them down they bring dinner by now by now it's like I'm already past no return and so I continue to drink my dinner so they put two more bottles of red wine also within John's reach and somehow managed to knock them over so at this point the table is now covered with red wine we'd been told early on that justice O'Connor was gonna have to leave early but by now you get into that frame of mind where everybody's at the party and don't leave it's all sin so justice O'Connor's getting ready to leave and of course that's when I was there now famous words loosen up sandy baby and basically it was me saying don't go come on we're gonna have a lot of fun and then it was bad timber I gotta tell people it looked like it looked like an 18-wheeler jackknifed on the interstate and he just what about without a sound and he stayed there for the entire speech I guess instead of making a commotion they just left me there till the party was over and the lights came up and they helped make to my feet and I rode off into the sunset it was a great evening as far as I was served one of the most memorable that I can remember in Washington because of the way that it played out and and the fact that everybody enjoyed it what did I think of it I was I think there's two schools of thought on that some people think it's fabulous other people are like oh my god this guy's crazy I thought it was fabulous I thought it was the guy that I would want to meet and hang out with at the time Riggins was dealing with a difficult divorce his new space was a trailer on the Potomac until the storm washed it downriver lisa-marie helped rescue it and John he had this reputation for being a drunk a partier and just a big galoot anybody who's ever ultimately worked with John or spent more than five or ten minutes with John understands that this is somebody who not only survived a tremendously violent career at a high level but has has a tremendous intelligence and a tremendous loyalty and will always do the right thing I don't know where or what I'd be doing right now had I not met my wife Lisa ray she's given me the ability to trust I didn't I've never had that before and that's a pretty big thing in a human's life I think trust soon they upgraded from the trailer to an abandoned warehouse where Lisa Marie continued John's restoration at the warehouse he had a doorstop and the doorstop was his Super Bowl MVP trophy and it was tarnished and it was black and it was dented so when we got married I finally got permission to have it restored they moved to New York were married by Rudy Giuliani and had two daughters John studied acting as a football star he was used to the stage it was a space where he'd always felt free to be himself I won't go back to jail have you been in jail prison camp and non that was a peeled up again Riggins most memorable curtain call came in Washington when he was surprised with a dozen roses from none other than Sandra Day O'Connor he took his final bow in 1990 the Redskins were adding his name to their ring of Fame I'm standing on the 50-yard line of my suit like a broken-down old football player should be but there's no job you know John's supposed to be here next to because our names are going up on plaques and then all of a sudden a crowd starts to get restless and it starts to get louder and louder and louder and out of the dugout comes John in full battle regaled [Music] waiting for him were the mother he was so much like and the father he so wanted to please [Music] [Applause] he looks like he could still play I remember running out there enticements looking at me with this quizzical look on his face he's going John why and I told him that's it I had to hear it just one more time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] up next all right guys let's go oh let's show everybody their Olympic skeet shooting skills come on let's see what a great shot you are I believe your nickname growing up was ha ha it's then because the weight shot a basketball not a shotgun yeah well what the hell that was a few moons ago come on around over here Franco and we'll get in the rig a peg ever there's a rain of a go one bottle three glasses let's go there we go Frank and Bill Riggins recently met up with John and his camera crew to film an episode for his new outdoor show called Rigo on the range [Music] how do you like your bigger bag oh not too bad you had accommodation and you guys have been all over the western part of the United States with disability I Wes and then to the Midwest yeah I got an l-cut with a former team minor teammate of mine Clinton idiot [Music] the Riggins boys returned to their hometown to shoot the bull and some clay pigeons your Olympic skeet shooting skills there is a match on as they call it or is this just shoot and have some fun I'm not gonna put any pressure on myself guys I do a show an outdoor show you know whatever happens I have to do [Music] bill Frank and John weren't back in Kansas just to shoot skeet for John's show [Music] they also returned to the high school for John's Hall of Fame plaque ceremony so did nearly all of Centralia who came to honor one of their own Jean and Millie's boy that wild kid that wonderfully different kid we know when I look back on my career I think of my mom and dad a young couple that came here mid 40's I think it was started a family between the two of them had the DNA to produce three exceptional athletes and I know that that was their dream it wasn't always necessarily my dream I like spending most of my time down here at the creek trying to catch bullhead and bluegills and I had an older brother who was an exceptional athlete when he went through and he set the bar at a certain level it made me get the most out of what talent I and in doing so I passed the legacy on to my younger brother so ultimately it gets back to understanding that everybody's part of a big family here and if you're find yourself in a situation where you need where you need somebody to help you out on a fourth and one I'm still the guy to see you can find John's name everywhere in Lawrence at the University of Kansas in Washington and of course at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton and today not just John's name but the entire Riggins family name sits above Centralia zs-- football field that's where their parents never missed a game and junior John and Bill all started their football lives ladies and gentlemen on behalf of Senate raelia high school on the Panther football program we would like to dedicate the football field to the Riggins family and therefore christen it as Riggins field [Music] from our family to yours and the city of Centralia I'd like to press our deepest gratitude to think that this field will be remembered as long as earnest in TRAI passive team ascent Riggins field is quite at high thank you [Applause] you know we've talked a lot about my career my upbringing my father my mother but one thing that I don't think I've expressed and I would be remiss if I had no is I love my dad I wanted to be him and in some ways I am so I would never want a mixed message here because I know my brothers feel the same way and it's kind of funny when you get back and you see your brothers then you see your same mannerisms in them and you realized it's not you it's your father so that's it and I I know that mom and dad there's a moment that had they been living they would have would have really meant a lot and then therefore it means a lot to me [Music] the issues that once entangled him are now gone John is at peace with his father and close to his brothers he's finally found a comfortable space at home I put in there's 123 emerald green Harbor via DS about 12 to 13 feet tall they got about a 40 inch football on them and they weigh about 1200 pounds [Music] had some help for the first 41 the last 82 I planted by myself and yeah there's a nice straight string of them and they're they're not perfect but they're straight and they're true to me there's order there there have been some interesting times and some bumps along the way for sure and a lot of it created by me and now you know please Marie the girls their resort and there is peace in the back

Channel: NFL Fanzone

Views: 270,820

Rating: 4.8379745 out of 5

Keywords: NFLFanzone, NFL, Fanzone, John Riggins, Washington Redskins, The Diesel, Riggo, The Hogs, Redskins, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Redskins Ring of Honor, Riggo The Diesel, Joe Gibbs, Joe Namath, Joe Thiesmann, Joe Washington, Joe Jacoby, Redskins vs Cowboys, The Posse, New York Jets, Kansas Jayhawks, Josh Charles, George Allen, Jack Pardee

Id: 92Q6QS2fn0A

Length: 44min 39sec (2679 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 18 2020