Doc's Blast from the Past -- It's DALLAS WEEK!!!
I figured I would post a couple articles from Dallas games in the past for your enjoyment. I was in attendance at both of these games… and reading about them again just sends chills up my spine. (NOTE: There are two full articles here… figured I’d put them in one post since they both are Blasts from the Past regarding Dallas.)
From:
HAIL TO RFK! 35 seasons of Redskins memories; 12 most memorable games, 25 top players profiled.
By: John Keim, Rick Snider and David Elfin. 1996
Oct. 8, 1973
The Greatest Tackle
Redskins 14, Cowboys 7
They thought he was in. Check that. They knew he was in. Dallas running back Walt Garrison grabbed the fourth-down pass at the goal line and needed only a foot or so to tie the game, send it into overtime and deflate the Redskins with a last-second touchdown. No one corralled the 6-foot, 205-pound Garrison in this situation. The guy wrestled steers for crying out loud.
Nearly 55,000 fans at RFK Stadium clammed up, awaiting the bad news from the officials. Any second now, those arms would be raised skyward, signaling a touchdown. So they watched in silence, as if viewing an accident site. Even the Redskins feared the worst. In this battle for first place, overtime beckoned.
“When he caught the ball,” said Redskins defensive tackle Bill Brundige, “I said, 'That’s it.’ Garrison was very, very difficult to stop cold. He could twist, he would turn. So when he caught the ball, I knew from where I was and where he was, if he wasn’t across the goal line, he was right at it. I just knew that was it.”
Enter Ken Houston.
The Redskins strong safety, read the play perfectly. Dallas had run it before in this game and, on this fourth-and-goal from the 6 with 24 seconds to play, the Cowboys called it again. Quarterback Craig Morton rolled right and Garrison swung out of the backfield and planted himself on that side.
On the play, Houston, the back of his feet touching the goal line, and free safety Brig Owens played a 'combination C’ coverage on the tight end and running back. When the tight end, and first option, Jean Fugett released, Owens covered him.
Many times, Houston would be on the tight end.
“I called the defense and (Houston) said to call another,” said linebacker Chris Hanburger. “That was one of the few times I listened to someone else and it put him in perfect position. That was Ken’s call the whole way. It was a defense that instead of covering a tight end to the inside, it allowed Ken to sit there and pick up the fullback.”
That left Garrison — and a spot in Redskins lore —to Houston.
Morton pump-faked, igniting the charge by Houston. When the ball was thrown, Garrison jumped and Houston raced at him.
Before Garrison was able to land both feet on the ground, Houston wrapped his arms around him. He yanked Garrison, whose right leg reached for the goal line, backwards and disabled any shot at forward momentum.
Eventually, Garrison abandoned the notion of scoring himself, scanned the field for a teammate and lateraled the ball. But that didn’t work either as it was smothered by Redskins around the 5-yard line. That clinched a 14-7 Washington victory in the teams’ first meeting since the Redskins’ 1972 NFC Championship victory. Dallas wanted revenge, instead it got more heartache and dropped to 3-1, same as Washington.
“I thought [Garrison] was going to step in because I knew where he was,” Houston said. “He was trying to lateral the ball and I was yelling for Brig to help me. And it was like I was talking on the telephone. That’s how quiet it was. I’ll never forget that. It was like I was the only voice on the field and everyone else was holding their breath and waiting for it to happen. No one said a word. Then when everyone realized what had happened, it got louder and louder and louder.”
After the game, all Garrison would say is, “I was close, very close.”
Who would figure that Garrison, who finished his career in 1974 with 3,886 yards rushing and another 1,794 yards receiving, would be denied?
Cornerback Pat Fischer. who was covering “Bullet” Bob Hayes, for one.
After the ball was thrown and Garrison jumped, Fischer figured Houston had the advantage.
“If his feet were on the ground when Kenny hit him, I don’t know if Kenny could have stopped him from getting that one yard,” Fischer said. “But when his feet were in the air, Kenny was so strong that when his feet came down, Kenny had him stopped.”
Owens said, “We would talk about how you had to get [Garrison’s] cleats out of the ground to stop him. There have been plenty of great tackles, but that one was such a timely tackle.”
Houston: “If he had the ball and got both feet on the ground, it would have been a tossup. I would have had to hit him hard enough to knock him back and that’s very difficult. I would probably be able to do that two out of 10 times.”
But he did it, six months after arriving in a trade for five players. Houston had validated the deal with the Oilers. It also helped him ease the pain over his departure from his home state.
In 1972, Houston dislocated a toe — against Dallas — and didn’t have a spectacular year. The following offseason, the Oilers wanted him to sign a three-year contract, which was two more than he was willing to accept. Eventually, the Oilers had enough. But the Redskins, particularly coach George Allen, liked him from the start. That play cemented their feelings.
“I remember George saying that one play was enough for the deal.” Houston said. “Guys welcomed me from the beginning, but now they knew I had come to play football.”
Houston made other big plays against Dallas. In 1974, Houston returned a punt 58 yards for a touchdown, the only such play in his career, as the Redskins won, 28-21. Houston was not the regular punt returner — Larry Jones was, but he was injured. (Later in that game, Houston fumbled a punt. Allen never stuck him back there again).
A year later, Houston intercepted a Roger Staubach pass in overtime to set up the game-winning score in a 30-24 victory. And, in 1978, Houston picked off a pass in the end zone intended for receiver Drew Pearson to preserve a 9-5 win.
“It seemed like when I played Dallas, I got on another level,” said Houston. “I really got caught up in the George Allen hype. You did not want to come home to [Texas] having lost to the Cowboys. I have a picture of me intercepting a ball against Dallas. The ball was in the air, I saw it and I remember jumping extremely high - I think my feet were alongside the guy’s head. I don’t know how I jumped that high or why I jumped that high.”
But none of those plays compared to the Garrison tackle. Houston — who lives in the Houston suburb of Kingwood — said he is reminded of that play at least two or three times a week, usually from Dallas fans who lost money on the game. Others remember it as a classic Monday Night Football moment.
Even Garrison, whom Houston has seen a half-dozen times since, can’t forget the tackle. He asked Houston to send him a picture of the game-saving play.
Defensive tackle Diron Talbert understands why such a fuss is still being made.
“That may be the defensive play of the century,” said Talbert.
Ironically, Houston was initially trying to intercept the ball. Had he succeeded, he might have raced the length of the field for a touchdown. With the Oilers, Houston had a knack for doing just that, setting an NFL record with nine such scores.
“I thought I could intercept the ball,” Houston said. “And I was going to step between Garrison and the ball, but I couldn’t get there. He landed on one foot and tried to step in with the other and I picked him up.”
Houston is convinced if he had picked off that pass and returned it for six points, that game would not be remembered as it is today. He also says that tackle didn’t win the game. That honor belonged to Owens.
Houston saved a touchdown; Owens scored one.
Owens’ heroics came moments after the Redskins had finally pulled even in this defensive struggle. Neither team scored until 49 seconds remained in the first half when Staubach (who later left the game with a severe charley horse) passed to receiver Otto Stowe for a I5-yard score, punctuating a 19-play drive. Washington marched right back, but Curt Knight missed a 44-yard field goal try as the half ended. It was one of three misses in the game for the struggling Knight.
In the first half, Dallas recorded 13 first downs to Washington’s three. The Redskins were lucky to still be in the game and might not have been if not for a blocked field goal (by Ron McDole) and a blocked punt (by Bill Malinchak).
Defensive end Verlon Biggs came through in similar fashion on the Cowboys’ first drive of the third quarter. After Dallas drove to the 16, two sacks stalled the drive and Toni Fritsch attempted a 38-yard field goal. But Biggs knocked it down for the Redskins’ third blocked kick of the night.
But the Redskins continued a troubling habit and didn’t capitalize. Later in the third quarter, Knight stumbled again as he missed a 30-yarder. Two years earlier, Knight had made the Pro Bowl. But he couldn’t make anything in 1973 as he missed nine of his first 12 attempts. With Allen’s defensive emphasis, every point was necessary.
“One frustrating thing during the Allen years was, we had great defenses but we didn’t blow them out on offense,” Brundige said. “A lot of times, the defense had to win the game.”
So they did just that. First, however, the Redskins’ offense finally managed to score. After the defense forced a punt late in the fourth quarter, Washington took over at its own 43. Quarterback Sonny Jurgensen went to work. The veteran completed four passes — two to favorite receiver Charley Taylor for 24 yards — moving the Redskins to the Dallas 18. Taylor then drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone and the Redskins had a first-and-goal at the 1.
Three plays later, Jurgensen, stepped back one foot and lobbed a pass to Taylor in the corner of the end zone. Taylor outjumped the defenders, caught the ball and, after Knight’s extra point, the game was tied with 3:39 remaining.
The tie didn’t last long. Three plays to be exact.
On Dallas’s next series, Morton dropped back to pass on third-and-9 at the Cowboy 19. He spotted tight end Billy Joe Dunne in the right flat, but Owens read the play. He raced in front of DuPree, grabbed the pass and, 26 yards later, snapped the tie. Dallas answered with its final drive, which included a 17-yard pass from Morton to Garrison on fourth-and-one to the Washington 4.
Four plays later, history was made.
The Redskins went on to finish 10-4 and lost at Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Dallas, which got revenge with a 27-7 win on Dec. 9, ended with the same record. The Cowboys also lost to Minnesota, but not until the NFC Championship.
As for Houston, he led the team in interceptions with six and was named to the Pro Bowl. So, too, were Hanburger, Taylor, center Len Nauss and kick returner Herb Mul-Key.
But 1973 will long be remembered for Houston’s tackle.
“It was just frozen in time,” said Brundige, who ran a stunt on the play with end McDole.
Brundige pressured Morton, jumped to block the pass then turned around and watched.
“When [Garrison] jumped up, it seemed like he hung there forever. He caught the ball and everyone just stopped like that’s it. It was one of those classic mano a mano confrontations. Houston and Garrison. And Kenny got him,” Brundige said.
Ken Houston
This couldn’t be the same guy. Could it? Ken Houston is too nice, too peaceful. When his mind gets frazzled, he seeks refuge on a golf course, soaking in deer sightings and admiring trees while playing solo. This guy frightened receivers?
But this doesn’t sound like a peaceful man:
“You wanted to put [receivers] out of the game,” said Houston, who won numerous civic awards in the NFL. “You wanted to see the ball go one way and him go another.”
In other words, as split as Houston’s personality.
“Ken was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” said defensive tackle Bill Brundige. “He didn’t smoke, drink, swear. He was a Christian fellow, had a super-intelligent wife. He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet in your entire life. But when he got on the field and put those elbow pads on, he was vicious.”
Houston is best remembered for his last-second tackle of Walt Garrison in a 14-7 win over Dallas in 1973. But more savage hits defined his play. Not only was Houston the best Redskins safety ever, he was named to the NFL’s Team of the 1970s. Houston was selected to 12 straight Pro Bowls, more than any other safety. Seven of those came with the Redskins, who acquired him in a five-for-one trade with the Houston Oilers, who didn’t like it that he was a players’ union representative.
That 1973 deal was a steal for the Redskins, who gave up offensive tackle Jim Snowden, tight end Mack Alston, defensive back Jeff Severson, receiver Clifton McNeil and defensive end Mike Fanucci to get Houston.
The trade stung Houston.
“It was traumatic,” he remembered. Then, when he arrived for his first camp, “[Coach] George Allen ran me on second team. Then [free safety] Roosevelt Taylor broke his arm, they moved Brig Owens over there and put me in at strong safety. [Before that],1 was thinking, 'I’ve been All-Pro five years. ' I didn’t think it would last, but then I realized George’s philosophy: You don’t lose a position. Somebody takes it.”
Houston seized it and held the job until 1980 when Tony Peters came along. Houston retired after that season with one disappointment - coach Jack Pardee didn’t play him in his final game at RFK Stadium, a 16-13 win on Dec. 13 against the Giants. Ironically, it was Ken Houston Day.
“I don’t know exactly what happened,” Houston said. remember Jack saying I would have a hard time covering the tight end. I couldn’t buy that. My career had been too 'good to dwell on those last few games.
But it bothered me. It bothered me big time.”
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound Houston was drafted in the ninth round in 1967 out of Prairie View (Tex.) —where he played linebacker. He quit twice during his rookie camp with the Oilers, convinced he had no chance. Also, because of his religious upbringing, Houston struggled with the idea of playing a game on Sundays.
Some NFL receivers, who called him dirty, probably wish he hadn’t returned to stalk them with his forearm smashings.
“He would hit someone and pop their helmet 15 feet,” said Washington defensive tackle Dave Butz.
“I was not a dirty player,” said Houston, who coached in the NFL for five years, college for three and high school for four more. “I was very aggressive and I didn’t take any cheap shots. I would hit a guy hard and I would clothesline him. But clotheslining was legal. They didn’t like it, but that’s the way it was.”
And what did it feel like when he nailed a receiver?
“It was just like I had a hole-in-one,” Houston said. “You didn’t get those kind of licks often, but those were the kinds of hits you’d go in on Tuesday and have them run the film back. You play all day to get a shot like that.”
But that wasn’t the only side to Houston.
“I learned about being a professional football player from Ken Houston,” said Redskins linebacker Mel Kaufman. “If I had to pick a role model for my kids, it would be Ken.”
Jan. 22, 1983
Doomsday for Dallas
Redskins 31, Cowboys 17
As the Washington Redskins geared up for the strike-elongated 1982 postseason, few of them understood what they were getting into. Only nine had been in an NFL playoff game. Just six players remained from Washington’s last playoff team six years before: quarterback Joe Theismann, running back John Riggins, kicker Mark Moseley, offensive tackle George Starke, defensive tackle Dave Butz and cornerback Joe Lavender. None played in the Redskins postseason victory.
More than half the players - 28 - were in their first, second or third NFL season and Joe Gibbs was only in his second year as a head coach.
“I had no idea things would turn out the way they did that year,” said Art Monk, then a third-year receiver. “We were still trying to learn coach Gibbs’ offensive system. We were a young, rebuilding team. We had a couple of stars here and there, but overall, we weren’t that talented. But there was a sense of closeness. We played well together. Everyone played with a sense of dedication.”
Linebacker Monte Coleman, an II th-round pick in 1979, noted, “We probably had more [undrafted players) than draft choices. Coach Gibbs knew what to look for in a player, the guys who could fit into his system. And they didn’t have to be the high picks.”
Indeed, such starters as offensive tackle Joe Jacoby, center Jeff Bostic, tight end Doc Walker, linebackers Mel Kaufman and Neal Olkewicz and safety Mark Murphy hadn’t been drafted. Starke, receiver Charlie Brown and linebacker Rich Milot had seen more than 180 players chosen before their names were called.
“Some of us were happy just to be playing in the NFL,” Kaufman said.
During his induction speech to the Hall of Fame in 1996, Gibbs said he often surprises people by naming special-teamers as Pete Cronan and Otis Wonsley as his greatest players.
“They were guys that gave their guts, covered those kickoffs and made all the rest of us look good,” Gibbs said in admiration.
But the no-name Redskins, who had rebounded from an 0-5 start in 1981 to win eight of their final 11 games, would establish themselves in 1982. They won their two games before the eight-week players’ strike and their first two afterwards. The next week, Dallas intercepted Theismann three times and sacked him seven times at RFK to ruin Washington’s perfect season with a 24-10 rout, hut the Redskins squeaked by St. Louis and the New York Giants to clinch a playoff spot.
Washington had been eking out victories with defense and Moseley’s record-setting leg. But as postseason neared, the offense caught fire in 27-10 and 28-0 poundings of New Orleans and St. Louis, respectively. Top receiver Monk was lost for the season when he broke a toe against the Cardinals, but the Redskins still headed into the playoffs on a roll.
“When our offense started to click, we were unstoppable,” Moseley said. “We had an aura about us. Coach Gibbs had convinced us we were good. He gave us so much confidence it was phenomenal.”
As the NFC’s best team at 8-I, Washington had home field advantage throughout the conference playoffs and that would prove a huge factor.
Detroit was the first postseason visitor to RFK in 10 years. Five-foot-7 Alvin Garrett, who had six career catches and was only playing because Monk and backup Virgil Seay were hurt, grabbed three touchdown passes from Theismann. Cornerback Jeris White returned an interception 77 yards for a score. Riggins, who had been resting a sore thigh the previous two weeks, rushed for 119 yards.
The Redskins romped 31-7 as “The Fun Bunch” of Garrett, Walker, Seay, Wonsley, Don Warren, Charlie Brown and Clarence Harmon began its routine of collective high-fives to celebrate Washington touchdowns.
Next up was Minnesota. By halftime the final score of 21-7 was set thanks to Washington drives of 66, 70 and 71 yards. Garrett keyed one march with a 46-yard catch off a flea flicker and scored the third touchdown after the Vikings had closed within 14-7. The defense, which held on its own 15, 28 and 39 in the second half, had now allowed just two touchdowns in 14 quarters.
“It was the kind of game we didn’t want to get into,” said Vikings coach Bud Grant. “We got 14 points behind and let them run the ball.”
Riggins, 33, carried a remarkable 37 times for a career-high 185 yards before taking off his helmet and bowing to the crowd.
“They said John was washed up three years ago,” Milot marveled.
“Riggins just came blowing by us all day,” lamented Minnesota linebacker Scott Studwell. “We were getting beaten at the line of scrimmage and we just couldn’t fill the right holes.”
Finally, it was Dallas time.
“When we were beating Detroit in the fourth quarter, the fans started cheering 'We want Dallas,’ “ recalled Charley Casserly, then the Redskins’ assistant general manager. “Then we play Minnesota. As soon as we make it 7-0, the chant starts again. 'We Want Dallas.’ It’s the first quarter! And that continued through-out the game.
The fans weren’t the only ones who wanted Dallas.
“My rookie season [1979], we went to Dallas for the final game with a chance to clinch a playoff spot,” Coleman said. “We win and we’re in. We’re kicking their butts, but they came from behind to beat us 35-34. That was the first time I ever cried after a game. The Cowboys were so arrogant. I hated them because of their arrogance.”
Kaufman said the Cowboys, who hadn’t missed the playoffs since 1974, didn’t respect the Redskins. They weren’t the only ones.
The strike had eliminated the week off between the championship games and the Super Bowl and word had spread that the vendors in California had imported Dallas, not Washington, merchandise. Also, the Cowboys were planning to fly directly to Pasadena from D.C. Neither of those news items sat well with the men in burgundy and gold. Or their fans.
“There were more people in the stadium an hour before the game than I’ve ever seen and since it was a 12:30 start, they were there at 11:30 in the morning,” Casserly recalled. “As Dallas was walking out for warmups, the chant started again: 'We Want Dallas. We Want Dallas.’ When we came out for the introductions, it was deafening.”
And the stands were shaking up and down.
“The thing I remember the most was the stands,” Coleman said. “They were rocking and rolling. Before the game people were screaming, 'We Want Dallas. We Want Dallas.’ A cold chill just kind of crept over me. I’ve never had it since. It was unreal.”
Said Moseley, “I don’t think Dallas ever had a chance.”
The emotions were so high that Boss Hog, offensive line coach Joe Bugel, uptight about how his young line would fare against the Cowboys’ Randy White, Too Tall Jones and Co. was puffing cigarettes even though he didn’t even smoke. After the national anthem ended, Bugel spotted Dallas defensive line coach Ernie Stautner across the field and gave him an obscene gesture.
Walker’s only concern was that all that emotion would be wasted before the game, and indeed it was Dallas which drove 75 yards to start things off. But the defense held the Cowboys at the 10 and they had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Rafael Septien.
Theismann led Washington right back down the field. The drive reached the Dallas 19 when the quarterback called an X-post pattern for Brown. Moments later, the receiver was in the end zone with the ball.
“Charlie felt there was no human being anywhere who could cover him,” Walker said. “And he would tell Joe in the huddle.”
Dallas did stop Washington’s next march because Moseley missed a 27-yard field goal try, but not lung afterwards, Tony Peters forced Rod Hill to fumble Jeff Hayes’ punt. Coleman recovered at the Dallas 11. Four plays later, Riggins was in the end zone for a 14-3 lead.
Things looked even rosier for the Redskins when defensive end Dexter Manley leveled Cowboys quarterback Danny White with 32 seconds left in the half. White walked off, but his concussion would keep him on the bench the rest of the day. Gary Hogeboom, who had thrown just eight career passes, replaced White.
Washington got another break when Mike Nelms fumbled the second-half kickoff only to have teammate Nick Giaquinto recover. However, Hayes’ short punt gave the Cowboys the ball at the Washington 38 and Hogeboom needed just six plays to hit receiver Drew Pearson for a touchdown. Nelms redeemed himself with a 76-yard kickoff return, setting up a 4-yard score by Riggins, but Hogeboom engineered a 14-play, 84-yard march capped off by his 23-yard touchdown pass to Butch Johnson. With 3:25 left in the third quarter, the lead had shrunk to 21-17.
“We were getting real nervous,” Kaufman said.
Hogeboom drove Dallas to the Washington 23 as the fourth quarter began, but Septien missed from the 42. Jones stopped Riggins for no gain on third-and-1 when the Redskins got the ball back and after the punt, Dallas took over at its 32.
Kaufman and White had practiced a scheme where the cornerback would line up inside of the linebacker
when they figured the Cowboys would try a certain pattern.
“Jeris and I talked about it in the huddle right before that first down play and it happened just the way we figured,” Kaufman said. “Hogeboom was going for receiver Tony Hill and I don’t think he even saw me.”
Kaufman’s interception set up a 29-yard Moseley field goal which widened the lead to 24-17, but there was still 7:12 to go. On first down, the Redskins sensed Hogeboom was going back to a screen to all-Pro halfback Tony Dorsett which had gained 25 yards earlier.
“My first read was pass rush,” said defensive tackle Darryl Grant, who had been drafted on the ninth round out of Rice as a guard the year before. “But when I decided it was a screen, I stopped and headed to where I thought it was going to be.”
Grant thought correctly. Manley leapt in Hogeboom’s face and tipped the ball up in the air. It landed right in the hands of Grant, who high-stepped 10 yards to the end zone as the fans went wild.
The touchdown finally took the life out of the Cowboys. And then the Redskins went to the “Riggo Drill.”
“We ran 50-Gut [Riggins up the middle] nine times in a row,” Bostic said. “On the third or fourth one, I told Russ let’s have some fun. We’re the young kids on the block. We’re the nobodies. The Cowboys walked the field as if their feet didn’t touch the ground. They were America’s Team and all that. We came to the line and told Randy, 'We’re running the ball at you.’ He didn’t say anything.”
Bostic kept yapping, but White stayed silent. What could he say?
Gibbs was carried off the field after the 31-17 triumph in a scene reminiscent of Allen’s victory ride a decade earlier.
“We beat the Cowboys, we’re going to the Super Bowl, what else could you want?” said Theismann, who cried with joy as the fans made the ground shake beneath his feet in the final seconds.
“It’s their year,” Pearson said. “They made the plays to make it happen. It’s the year of the Redskin.”
Pearson knew what he was talking about. The following Sunday, Riggins broke away from Don McNeal’s tackle and rumbled 43 yards into history as the Redskins rallied to beat Miami 27-17 and win Super Bowl XVII.
“The thing I remember the most was the stands. They were rocking and rolling. Before the game people were screaming, 'We Want Dallas. We Want Dallas.’ A cold chill just kind of crept over me. I’ve never had it since. It was unreal.” —Monte Coleman
John Riggins
One of Joe Gibbs’ first priorities as the new Redskins coach in 1981 was ending John Riggins’ one-year holdout. Gibbs traveled to Riggins’ farm in Lawrence. Kan., for a morning meeting only to find his potential star running back wearing combat fatigues and drinking beer.
“You need to get me back there,” Riggins told Gibbs. “I’ll make you famous.”
Gibbs figured Riggins for a “fruitcake” and “egomaniac.” No matter, Gibbs could always trade Riggins after he returned. But two days after the meeting, Riggins told Gibbs he would agree to return given one proviso in his contract — a no-trade clause.
Riggins played five more seasons and fulfilled his pledge to Gibbs. The Redskins won Super Bowl XVII over the Miami Dolphins 27-17, Riggins led the postseason charge by rushing for 100 yards in a record four straight playoff games. The following year, Riggins set a Redskins rushing record with 1,347 yards and an NFL mark of 24 touchdowns. Washington got back to the Super Bowl, but lost to the Los Angeles Raiders, 38-9.
Known as “Riggo,” “Mr. January” and “The Diesel,” Riggins was as flamboyant off the field as he was flashy on it. He loved being football’s version of James Dean, even sporting a Mohawk haircut because “I always wanted one as a kid, but my parents wouldn’t let me. I did it to show I was my own boss. Ah, really, I just did it for the fun of it.”
Riggins liked being a free spirit even if it meant upsetting others. He once told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to “Loosen up, Sandy baby” at a black-tie affair before falling asleep on the floor during Vice President George Bush’s speech. Riggins practiced in work boots, once painted his toenails green and took a bow at midfield during the 1983 playoff game against Minnesota.
“Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not a flake,” Riggins said in 1983. “Maybe I’ve taken a game that is respected by so many sportswriters and just played with it, and they don’t like it.”
But many loved Riggins’ unconventional lifestyle.
“Characters make up a football team,” said Sam Huff, a Hall of Fame linebacker who broadcast many of Riggins’ games. “They don’t read the Bible or become exemplary citizens, but at I o’clock John laid it out on the field. Down deep, John Riggins is a hell of a person,”
At 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, Riggins was certainly built like a diesel engine, only this one could fly.
“John was very deceiving when he got in the open.” said Redskins offensive tackle Joe Jacoby. “A lot of people think someone that big isn’t fast.”
Shortly before the 1982 playoffs, Riggins felt his hair standing on end and his neck tingling. It was “The Surge.” Riggins told Gibbs he wanted the ball. The more the better.
“Listen, trust me,” Riggins told Gibbs. “Give me the football, baby.”
The Redskins would gain early leads and then use the “Riggo Drill” of pounding opponents with late ball-control drives. Riggins gained 610 yards in the four post-season games, 253 in the fourth quarter. He accounted for 43.3 percent of the Redskins’ offense.
“I did the right thing,” he said. “I asked for that one little chance we get occasionally. I grabbed the bull by the horns and said, 'Let’s roll!’ “
Riggins’ finest moment was breaking Miami cornerback Don McNeal’s tackle for a 43-yard touchdown run to clinch the Redskins’ Super Bowl victory over the Dolphins. He gained 166 yards while earning Most Valuable Players honors. Escaping McNeal wasn’t surprising. Teammates said few defenders ever tried tackling Riggins head on.
“John was 260 pounds and defensive backs were 180,” offensive tackle George Starke said. “They’d lose IQ points every lime they made the tackle.”
It was that toughness that made Riggins fit in well with his offensive linemen — the Hogs.
“Sometimes we’d say 'Look, we’ll block 10 and you run over one,’ “Starke said. “He’d say 'Which one?’ We’d tell him that one over there and he’d run over him. He was like a guard carrying the ball. He was as goofy and zany as the rest of us.”
And proud of it.