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John Riggins had a nose for the end zone

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11 Jan 2022
5 min read
Question: this Washington running back found the end zone 24 times in 1983, a record for the decade...

For most NFL players, tread on the proverbial tire has a short life span; as the legs go, so does production.

John Riggings was a rare exception.

Known alternately as both “Riggo” and “Diesel,” the Kansas-born running back/fullback enjoyed record-setting production well into his 30s.

Following an All-American collegiate career at the University of Kansas, Riggings was the sixth overall player (and first running back) taken in the 1971 NFL draft, selected by the New York Jets.  Across a five-year run with in New York, the back proved an effective threat on the ground and through the air; in his second season with the Jets, Riggins compiled 944 rush yards (with an impressive 4.6 yards per carry) to go with 230 receiving yards while eight total TDs.  Come the 1975 season, Riggins ran for 1,005 yards on 238 carries, becoming the first player in franchise history to amass a 1-K rushing season.

The year ensuing, Riggins signed a cross-conference free agent deal to go from the AFC to NFC and become a member of Washington’s football team (now known as the Commanders).  A measure of productivity and injury followed before Riggins – who did put together 1,000-plus yard rushing seasons in both 1978 and ’79 – opted to hold out via a contract dispute in ’80.

Returning with fresh legs in 1981, however, and running behind a legendary offensive line that would be known as “Then Hogs,” Riggins and his burly, workman-style flourished under new head coach, Joe Gibbs.

In the strike-shortened NFL season of ’82, Washington would go on to defeat Miami in the Super Bowl, while Riggins would put together a record run of 610 ground yards across four playoff games en route to the title and a Super Bowl MVP for the back.

His age at the time?  Riggins was 33-years-old.

Showing no let-down the year following, a 34-year-old Riggins would author 1,347 rushing yards and an NFL-record 24 scores as Washington again made the title game before eventually falling to the Marcus Allen-led (191 yards and two TDs) Los Angeles Raiders.

The record touchdown mark for Riggins would stand for a dozen years, before Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith scored 25 times for the eventual 1995 Super Bowl champs.  Subsequently, San Diego Chargers’ rung back LaDainian Tomlinson would amass an NFL-best 31 TD’s in 2006, which still stands as the top end zone mark.

For Riggins, two more NFL seasons would follow (including an NFL-leading 14 rush touchdowns in ’84) before the tough man back hung up the cleats at age 36 after the 1985 season.

In 1992, Riggo/Diesel was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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