Pro Football Hall of Famer John Riggins is best remembered for his years with the Washington Redskins, but during his first five NFL seasons, he grew into an All-Pro with the New York Jets.
In Week 9 this season, on Nov. 8, the Washington Commanders will retire the fullback’s No. 44 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. Riggins will become just the seventh player in franchise history to have his number retired. Riggins played nine of his 14 professional seasons for Washington, earning All-Pro honors in 1983 and leading the league in rushing touchdowns twice (1983 and 1984). He became a Super Bowl champion (1982-83 season), and was named MVP of Super Bowl XVII. Riggins was one of four members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 1992 in Canton, Ohio. He retired after the 1985 season, having chalked up 104 rushing touchdowns and 11,352 rushing yards.
When Riggins wore the burgundy and gold, the team was known as the Redskins, and home games were played at Washington, D.C.’s RFK Stadium on East Capital Street. After the 2019 season, the franchise was rebranded as the Commanders, and their home games are played in Landover. The team’s headquarters are in Virginia, and 32 players, coaches, and administrators associated with the franchise are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Much has changed since Riggins exited the game. However, the thrills aren’t forgotten.
But conversations about his career often overlook the fullback’s formative seasons with the New York Jets. Just two seasons after the Jets’ only Super Bowl victory, Riggins was New York’s top draft selection (sixth overall) in 1971.
“Being a high draft choice there were high expectations for sure,” Al Woodall, former Jets quarterback and Riggins’s teammate for his first three pro seasons, told The Epoch Times on Monday. “He didn’t just come in and automatically become a fantastic player. His abilities, though, were obvious.”
Riggins shared sports headlines in New York City with Jets quarterback “Broadway” Joe Namath. At the time of Riggins’ arrival, Namath was in the midst of a contract reportedly paying him in the $75,000 per season range. As Riggins evolved into the team’s first 1,000-yard rusher in 1975 (his last season as a Jet), and was looking for “Namath money” to remain in New York, it became clear that team General Manager Weeb Ewbank was not going to meet his salary demands. In 1976, Riggins opted for free agency and moved on to Washington. His legacy then grew by leaps and bounds.
“I was with John for his first four seasons. He and I became good friends. I hated to see him go,” says Woodall, who was also Riggins’s roommate for road games. “The issue with John was, he felt he was as important to the offense as Joe, and he wasn’t getting paid what Joe was. That was the whole thing. Weeb just didn’t want to pay him.”
Washington welcomed Riggins, then 27, to training camp in the summer of 1976, after signing with the team in June. The rest is the football history most fans recall of the fullback known as “Diesel.” As Woodall recalls, the Jets offense designed plays specifically for Riggins.
“Absolutely, John jelled with the offense well. He had so much skill. He could run with anyone on the team. I remember one game, John was spread out as a wide receiver. Joe threw him the ball, and John caught it for a 60-yard touchdown. I was always surprised with the Redskins that they would take him out of the game when it was third and long. He caught the ball so well, they should have never taken him off the field.”
Woodall, 80, came to the Jets as a second-round draft pick out of Duke University in 1969. In his six seasons with the Jets, Woodall served primarily as Namath’s understudy.
“People forget that John was a quarterback in high school, and he was an All-American. He was really strong, and just had unbelievable talents,” Woodall said.
Woodall, like many Washington football followers, believes Riggins was the best fullback in the league during his prime. Joe Theismann quarterbacked the Redskins to NFL dominance, but it was Riggins’s “workhorse” mentality that consistently put Washington in position for the playoffs. Sitting out the 1980 season due to a contract dispute is perhaps the only blemish on Riggins’s playing days.
When new Redskins coach Joe Gibbs was hired prior to the 1981 season, bringing Riggins back into the team’s fold was priority one. He was successful, and for the following five seasons in Washington, as Riggins went, so went the Redskins’ offense.
