- 1 day ago
The Commanders announced they'll retire John Riggins' No. 44 jersey this year. This was long overdue to many, including Grant & Danny.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I actually want to start, though, as we should.
00:02Let's not bury the lead with the massive story of the day,
00:04and that is that John Riggins will have his number 44 retired
00:09by the Washington Commanders for his work as one of the great Redskins
00:14in the history of the organization.
00:16And then there was seven.
00:18So if you're keeping score at home, retired uniform numbers
00:22by Washington football organization.
00:26Number nine, Sonny Jurgensen.
00:27Number 21, Sean Taylor.
00:30Number 28 of Daryl Green.
00:32The 33 of Sammy Baugh.
00:3544, as of today, of John Riggins.
00:3849 of Bobby Mitchell.
00:40And the number 81 of Art Monk.
00:42Those seven numbers will never be worn again.
00:44This was the organization that for many, many years
00:46didn't give out certain numbers but wouldn't retire them.
00:49Joe Theismann's seven, as an example, doesn't get worn.
00:52The 42 of Charlie Taylor isn't in circulation, so to speak.
00:56But they haven't retired those,
00:57so those are candidates for the future, I suppose.
01:00But while 44 was already off limits, we have made it official.
01:03One of the great Redskins ever having his day in the sun this football season.
01:07This was the guy that typified those Joe Gibbs 80s Redskins teams.
01:13He and the Hawks were in it together.
01:15It was the rest of the league may have kind of trended towards finesse.
01:19They didn't.
01:19This was power football.
01:20This is 50 gut.
01:22This is counter-tray right down your throat.
01:25The diesel thumping.
01:27Laying out punishment in a different time of football.
01:30But this was the guy.
01:31I mean, this was the dude.
01:31You toted your mail.
01:33He was, you know, you're going to be tired after the game.
01:34You're going to be sore.
01:35You better have a couple cold ones ready for him
01:37because he's getting 30 touches, and it's going downhill.
01:39So John Riggins was obviously before my time.
01:42I'm just not old enough as someone in their 30s to have seen him play.
01:45His final snaps in the NFL took place before I was born,
01:49let alone the prime of his career.
01:51But he is such an important figure in team history.
01:55Amazingly, by the way, you know how old he is now?
01:58What would you guess?
01:59In his 70s, probably?
02:0176.
02:02Yeah.
02:02He's going to turn 77 years old next month.
02:04That's shocking.
02:05That's nuts.
02:06That means we're all getting too old.
02:07Yes, that is correct.
02:08But he's so important that if you're a diehard fan of this team
02:12as a young person growing up, you learn about John Riggins.
02:15You ask around about John Riggins.
02:17You do some digging on.
02:18You watch some video of John Riggins.
02:20And what you find pretty quickly is that he was a larger-than-life personality
02:24and character.
02:26That's one of the reasons he's so beloved.
02:29He was one of the most unique individuals in sports.
02:34We experienced it, if you're in my generation, through Chris Cooley,
02:39who was like this big-time character and hilariously funny out on the practice field
02:44with the clothing he would wear or the way he would style his hair a certain day or whatever.
02:49Riggins was that guy.
02:51He also happens to be the greatest running back in team history
02:54and one of the greatest running backs ever.
02:56He is a pro football Hall of Famer.
02:59He was unstoppable in the prime of his career.
03:02He was a combination of size and speed that was just really rare
03:05in addition to being a huge personality.
03:08But I think that's maybe what you would say first about Riggins
03:12when you talk about why was he next or why is 44 getting retired.
03:16He was the face of the franchise in their best era.
03:21Theismann would have something to say about that maybe,
03:23a regular on this show and a buddy of ours.
03:25He was certainly in that conversation.
03:26But there's no play more important in team history,
03:31more synonymous with Redskins' greatness,
03:33than the iconic 43-yard run on 4th and 1 against Miami,
03:38the greatest play in franchise history,
03:40with 10 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in Super Bowl XVII
03:43on January 30th, 1983.
03:46Here comes the diesel.
03:47And he rips off the touchdown run to take the lead and win the Super Bowl.
03:50What else do you say?
03:51I mean, this is, you know, 6-2, 2-30.
03:54Say that again, 6-2, 2-30 at the time where that wasn't a thing.
03:58That's a lineman, almost, in that era.
04:00I would tell you that's still not a thing.
04:02You mean of all players, I guess.
04:03Yeah.
04:04Because, like, running backs aren't that big now because they're not fast enough.
04:06Like, there was a gimmick for a while in the early 90s,
04:08the Christian Okoye's, the Berry Words, the Ironhead Haywards,
04:11the, like, heavyset running back to deliver punishment.
04:14This guy was 6-2, 2-30 and was a high school track champion.
04:17Well, the 100-meter dash, not one, two separate times.
04:21Again, this is one of those, this is more special than your average,
04:26oh, he's a thumping running back.
04:27No, no, no, no, no, no.
04:28This was a punishment-delivering track star who could beat you
04:31however you'd like to get beaten.
04:32I'm sure he worked unbelievably hard.
04:35And we could ask him that the next time we chat with him,
04:37what was his regimen.
04:38But he was also one of those guys that could just go out all night,
04:42drink in the afternoon, show up in the evening in a practice or something,
04:46and just whoop people's butt.
04:48Like, he was put on this planet.
04:49He was Ovechkin before Ovechkin.
04:51He really was.
04:52He was put on this planet to be a great athlete.
04:54With his size and his speed, it was just God-given in so many ways.
04:58He was born different.
04:59The MVP of the Super Bowl, the first-ever Super Bowl that Washington won,
05:03he ran for 166 yards in that game.
05:06And if you look up his 1982 postseason,
05:09so this is the 82 season into the 1983 Super Bowl,
05:14he still holds records for the most impressive
05:18and legendary postseason of any running back.
05:21Four games, 610 yards, eight touchdowns.
05:27The Commanders boarded the train that was,
05:33the diesel that was John Riggins.
05:34They just rode him all the way to that title,
05:37inducted into the 1992 Pro Football Hall of Fame.
05:41And in doing a little digging today on some of his best seasons
05:44and his numbers throughout his career,
05:47this is unheard of.
05:49Even back then, I would say.
05:51But nowadays, it's unconscionable.
05:54The longevity with which he operated.
05:57Do you realize at 34 years old,
05:59he ran for 1,200 yards and led the NFL in touchdowns?
06:02Oh, yeah.
06:03Maybe Derrick Henry could do something like that,
06:06or I don't even know.
06:08So, like, we won't see that anymore, probably.
06:12Adrian Peterson.
06:13Especially this style of running back.
06:14That's what I'm saying.
06:15That's delivering punishment, yeah.
06:16You're talking about an all-time great
06:18when you do something like that at 34 years old.
06:20Yeah, and this isn't,
06:21he's not running out of a single back look
06:22with, you know, three receivers,
06:24everyone spread out in there,
06:25and the base defense is now nickel.
06:27This is 12, you know,
06:2822 people real close to the line of scrimmage,
06:31maybe 21 with the safety slightly back.
06:32But we're thumping.
06:33We're going downhill.
06:34We're following our lead blocker,
06:35and punishments delivered in either direction
06:38every single play.
06:39You realize he averaged 25 carries per game?
06:42Averaged 25 carries a game.
06:44For his whole career?
06:44No, that year we're talking about.
06:46I was going to say for his career,
06:47that would be asinine.
06:48We get 375 carries that year
06:50in playing 15 games.
06:51Different times.
06:52Just different times.
06:52Yeah.
06:53And it's the...
06:54It's a lot of car crashes.
06:55Seriously.
06:56And I, and it's remarkable
06:58that, A, as you said,
06:59the longevity,
07:00but he didn't play in the 1980 season,
07:01missed a, would have had another,
07:02you know, 1,100 yards
07:04and 15, 16 more touchdowns,
07:05of course, probably in that point,
07:07but led the league in touchdowns that year.
07:09Just a, a downhill machine.
07:11And I think you said it,
07:12was the face of it
07:13because you can't have
07:14five linemen be the face.
07:16So he was kind of the honorary guy
07:18that turned into the face
07:19where it was this plucky bunch of,
07:22you guys are, you know,
07:23the, the golden boys
07:24and we're the, we're the ragtag group
07:26and we're going to beat the brakes off you
07:28and drink a beer afterwards.
07:29He averaged 1,300 yards
07:31and 18 touchdowns
07:34over a two-season span
07:35at his 34 and 35 aged seasons.
07:39And I just, I can't wrap my head around that.
07:41Like his best football, arguably,
07:44was played in his mid-30s.
07:47And he had some great years early on,
07:49but he, you know,
07:49for his first several seasons
07:50with the Jets
07:51and then early on in Washington,
07:53he had a couple years
07:54where he got over 1,000 narrowly.
07:56It really wasn't until after he quit in 80
07:59over the contract dispute
08:00and he came back
08:02that he cemented himself
08:03as a Hall of Famer
08:04and he did so many
08:05of the legendary, iconic things
08:06that he would end up doing
08:07in the playoffs.
08:08But all time
08:09in this organization's history,
08:11and there's been some really good running backs
08:13to come through here.
08:14Most recently,
08:15Clinton Portis.
08:17He's number one,
08:187,472 rushing yards.
08:22A mark that he has held
08:24organizationally for over 40 years.
08:27When you hold a record
08:29for 40-plus years
08:30for a team in sports,
08:31you know,
08:32you can have a record
08:32while you're there.
08:33That's awesome.
08:34I'm not saying,
08:34it means you were really, really good.
08:36But when time passes
08:38and dozens and dozens of people
08:40at your position have come after
08:41and no one's ever been able
08:42to do what you did,
08:44it means that much more.
08:46Not just number one in yards,
08:47but touchdowns,
08:48rushing attempts,
08:4926 100-yard games,
08:50the most in team history.
08:52You only got to ever score
08:53more touchdowns overall
08:54in a Redskins uniform
08:56was Art Monk.
08:57But from a rushing standpoint,
08:58Riggins is at the top
09:00of the mountain.
09:00Just a unique character,
09:02unique individual.
09:03One of the coolest things
09:03you and I got to do
09:04not too long after our show started
09:06was we had kind of that,
09:07I don't know what we call
09:08the fireside chat
09:10with John Riggins
09:11where we went to a steakhouse
09:12and just chopped it up with him
09:15for a couple hours.
09:16And it's like one of those things
09:17where I was doing it
09:18and, you know,
09:19I'm trying to think
09:19all the good questions
09:20and we're trying to make good radio
09:21and let him go.
09:22Of course,
09:23he's such a great storyteller
09:24with his unique,
09:24you know,
09:25Kansas delivery
09:26and, you know,
09:26sort of having to talk about himself
09:28which he didn't love doing
09:29but understood
09:30that was for this kind
09:31of special occasion.
09:32And there were two
09:33or three moments
09:34where I go,
09:36I'm talking to
09:37John Bleepen Riggins,
09:39the guy that gave me
09:40my first memory.
09:41You know what I mean?
09:42The first thing I really remember.
09:43I don't remember everything about it.
09:44I've watched the play
09:44a thousand times,
09:45but I'm there with my whole family
09:47and my dad,
09:47my uncle,
09:48and all these guys
09:49were losing our mind
09:50when he ran against Miami.
09:51I didn't know
09:52what was going on
09:52but I remember
09:53almost passing out
09:54from screaming
09:54and jumping up and down
09:55and hugging everybody.
09:56I was just a little tiny kid.
09:57I was four years old.
09:58But the larger-than-life figure
10:02that he was,
10:03this is correct.
10:04Good job by the org.
10:05Getting this done.
10:05This was important.
10:06He was estranged
10:07from the org for a while.
10:08Maybe that's not the right word
10:09but separate ways
10:10with Snyder.
10:12He had a lot of negative things
10:13to say about the team
10:14and the organization.
10:15Understandably,
10:15a lot of us did.
10:16But I think that was a major rift
10:20that needed to be repaired
10:21and this is right.
10:22This is 100% correct.
10:23This is an icon.
10:25One of the guys
10:26from the best era
10:27of this organization.
10:28I always knew how loved he was
10:30by this fan base
10:31but you really can't appreciate it
10:34until you see it firsthand.
10:36And I had the honor
10:37of getting to do a show
10:38that I co-hosted with him
10:40for a full football season.
10:41Yeah.
10:42Would have been in 12 or 13.
10:43You were working in middays
10:44with Holden.
10:45I was on the beat
10:46and wasn't yet
10:47a part of the daily lineup.
10:49Chad Dukes was doing
10:51afternoons.
10:52Perhaps.
10:53Still with the bar.
10:54At that point, yeah.
10:54Maybe.
10:55It might have even been him solo.
10:56I'm not sure
10:56because it would have been 12 or 13.
10:57But regardless,
11:00at a bar
11:01that rotated
11:02every Monday night
11:03it was like
11:04Riggo Live
11:05leading up to
11:06Monday Night Football.
11:07And it was the John Riggan show
11:08and I would just kind of
11:09steer him in and out of conversations
11:11and take calls.
11:12But the reason I bring this up
11:13other than just getting
11:14to work alongside
11:15and get to know
11:15and spend some time
11:16around John Riggins
11:17and seeing his big personality
11:19and how hilarious
11:20this guy was.
11:21The amount of people
11:24every single week
11:25that would come
11:26from all over the area
11:27to shake his hand
11:29and get his autograph
11:29and say hello
11:30was staggering.
11:32And, I mean,
11:33you really haven't seen
11:34what it's like
11:35to appreciate someone
11:36from your childhood
11:37or nostalgia
11:38until you're around that.
11:39musicians probably get that.
11:42Like, real celebrities.
11:43But, I mean,
11:44the love for him
11:45in this town
11:45is incredible.
11:47Yep.
11:47And I got to see it firsthand
11:48and this is a layup.
11:50This one was easy.
11:51Super well deserved.
11:53I do want to,
11:54as I have done
11:55each of the times
11:56we talk about
11:57another uniform
11:59number being retired,
12:01say that this was
12:02always the right thing
12:03to do
12:03and this new ownership group
12:04continues to just
12:06get on base.
12:07They got that.
12:08Whatever that is.
12:09The, hey,
12:10this is an easy fix.
12:11These are layups.
12:13Let's hit a layup.
12:14Nobody's saying
12:15it's the greatest thing
12:15in the world
12:16but this eluded
12:17the previous ownership group.
12:19They couldn't figure
12:19this part out.
12:20Everybody hates your guts.
12:22This is the best way
12:22to get people to like you
12:23and they couldn't,
12:25they wouldn't do it.
12:25Who knows?
12:26Look at the last couple of years.
12:27So, 12 months ago
12:28we found out
12:28Darryl Green was getting
12:29his jersey retired.
12:30He was at odds
12:30with the organization
12:31previously
12:32in a lesser public way
12:34where it just wasn't
12:36a great relationship.
12:37He wasn't involved.
12:38He is very much
12:39back in the fold
12:40and an ambassador
12:41of sorts now
12:41who's around constantly.
12:43John Riggins,
12:44similarly,
12:45like most of these guys
12:46that they're making
12:47these relationships
12:47right with,
12:48I'm sure will have
12:49some unofficial capacity
12:51or will be in the mix
12:52and kind of around
12:53the organization.
12:54He has been
12:55way more often
12:56over the last couple of years
12:57but this is exactly
12:59what should be happening.
13:00You and I used to have
13:01conversations
13:01with former greats
13:03and these legends
13:04that people fell in love
13:06with this team
13:07because of.
13:08Guys who bled
13:10and sweat
13:10and gave everything
13:11they had
13:11and years off
13:12of their lives
13:13were taken
13:14because of what
13:15they gave to this city
13:16and this town
13:17and to football fans
13:18and so many of them
13:20were so disenfranchised
13:21and so bothered
13:22based on how
13:23they'd been treated.
13:23Remember it was our show
13:24where national headlines
13:25were made by Charles Mann
13:27who basically talked
13:28about the old
13:29ownership group
13:30and how horribly
13:32some of the players
13:33were treated
13:33and now they felt
13:34like they were
13:35brought in
13:35just as pawns
13:37to make a couple
13:37more bucks off.
13:38Shields every once
13:39in a while
13:39for some goodwill.
13:40It's like
13:41I know you're mad at me
13:42but look
13:42it's Charles Mann
13:43and I go
13:44I get that.
13:45Not anymore though.
13:46They're doing this
13:47for the right reasons.
13:49A. I think you're
13:50repairing relationships
13:51that necessarily
13:52need to be repaired.
13:53Yep.
13:55Redskins football
13:56now commanders football
13:57is not what it is
13:59without John Riggins
14:00and if he's not
14:01going to be around
14:02and he's persona
14:03in on grata
14:04he's some guy
14:05that can't be in the building
14:06for whatever reason
14:07that's got to be
14:08a mended fence
14:09that's got to be fixed.
14:10There are very very few
14:11of those guys left.
14:13I don't even know
14:14what other relationships
14:14you have to build back up.
14:16I want them to continue
14:17to extend olive branches
14:19and I think Chris Cooley
14:20is a guy that should be
14:21back around here.
14:22He kind of unceremoniously
14:23remember at the end
14:24had a seeming falling out
14:26with Snyder
14:27and he went out
14:28to his hometown
14:29in Wyoming
14:30and we haven't really
14:30heard much from him.
14:31And that's the end
14:33of the chapter.
14:33He's like the most
14:34recent guy.
14:35That would be amazing
14:36to see him come back
14:37and be added to the fold
14:38again and be involved
14:39in some way.
14:40He was around the facility
14:42constantly.
14:42He was on the radio broadcast
14:44and on the team's radio station
14:45and everything else
14:46but what a job
14:48by this ownership group
14:49to continue to thread
14:51the needle
14:51on honoring the past
14:54and trying to move
14:55this thing forward
14:55in a way
14:56where they can build
14:57this tent up bigger
14:58again.
14:58It's hard
14:59with new fans.
15:00It is really hard.
15:01You're trying to drag
15:03everybody who
15:03of the people
15:05that grew up
15:05watching John Riggins
15:07play for the Redskins
15:08there's one thing
15:09that they want
15:10that you can never give them
15:11but you're doing
15:11everything else
15:12to try to do it
15:12but also try to lean
15:14into this new brand
15:15which I think stinks
15:16but they're saddled
15:16with it
15:17so they're doing it.
15:18This is not an easy
15:18tightrope to walk.
15:20These as we kind of said
15:21are the layups.
15:22These are the right things.
15:23You do it in a nice way.
15:24You don't do it
15:25as some gimmick
15:25to try to sell a ticket.
15:26You do it because
15:27it's the right thing
15:28to do.
15:28You do enough of those
15:29and people start
15:30to trust you again.
15:31I got two questions
15:32for people
15:32as we kick things off
15:33on Grant and Danny
15:34today on the fan.
15:35First
15:37where does Riggins
15:39rank all time
15:40among the greats
15:41for this organization
15:42for you?
15:43Is he at the very top?
15:44He's certainly
15:45a Mount Rushmore Redskin
15:47but where is he
15:48on your personal list?
15:51800-636-1067
15:52and then the other
15:53thing I'm curious
15:54about is
15:55when you hear
15:56the name John Riggins
15:57what comes to mind?
15:58What's your memory?
15:59What's your moment?
16:00How did you
16:01and why did you
16:01fall in love
16:02with this player
16:03that it seems like
16:05had a more unique
16:07relationship with
16:08the fan base
16:09than anybody else
16:10and why was that?
16:12His numbers being
16:13retired this football
16:14season 44
16:15will never be worn
16:16again by a member
16:17of the commanders.
16:18Grant and Danny
16:19on the
Comments