Washington Redskins Hall of Fame - Running Back John Riggins

John Riggins is a Football Hall of Famer who hasthe coach, Joe Gibbs, in which he talked Riggins
made his mark on football for all eternity. He firstinto coming back to the team. He did and
began playing with the New York Jets to laterremained there until 1985.
move on to the Washington Redskins. It was inWhen Riggins returned to the team in 1981, he
1992 that he was inducted into the Hall of Famescored 13 touchdowns while rushing for 714
and for good reason.yards. He managed an incredible comeback to the
From 1971 to 1975, Riggins played for the Newteam and continued the momentum through the
York Jets, He was actually a Jets MVP, but heremainder of his football career with the Redskins.
then moved to the Washington Redskins fromRemainder of Career
1976 to 1979 as a free agent. At the time heThe remainder of Riggins's career consists of
signed on, he was offered a contract for fourmany yards rushing, such as the 1,239 yards he
years in the amount of $1.5 million.gained in 1984. In the 14 seasons that he played
Riggins was best in situations where the yardagein his career, he gained 13,442 yards and had 116
was short, but a knee injury knocked him out oftouchdowns.
the 1977 season. That didn't keep him fromRecords
gaining over 1,000 yards in 1978 and 1,000 yardsThere are a number of records that Riggins holds.
in 1979.Some of those records include: The oldest player
The Contract Disputeto rush over 150 yards in a single game at the
Riggins sat out the 1980 season because heage of 35 years old and 71 days. At 36 years old
wanted to renegotiate his contract. He wasand 70 days, he was the oldest player to rush for
refused, so he walked away from training camp.3 touchdowns in a single game.
He did, however, rejoin the Redskins in 1981 when