Riggo's Place In History

[SkinsFreak]

Unless I had no point to begin with, which is entirely possible.

[Countertrey]

I'm still trying to figure out what your point is... however, I am sure of one thing. YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT...

How can I be missing the point of a discussion I started?
Unless I had no point to begin with, which is entirely possible.
I think my point was that Riggins and The Hogs go together when discussing how important either was to the 1980's Redskins, although it was so long ago that I would have to go spelunking to find my original point.

Agreed on the rest of your post. Riggins was all about 3-4 yards and a cloud of dust. And he got those 3-4 yards every time. I don't ever recall seeing Riggins go backwards.

Actually, you had responded to Vetskinsfan's:

Cooley's no small guy, he's going to break tackles.....but he's still no Riggo.

with:

Without the play pictured, Riggo is no Riggo. One 4th and 2 made Riggo's career.

It is that apparent minimizing of the value of Riggo to the early Gibbs era 'Skins that has our noses a bit out of joint. His touchdown in that game put the 'Skins up... but it was the unglamorous and brutish "Riggo Drill" that sealed Miami's fate.

I am convinced... no Riggo... no first Lombardi trophy. There was no one in the league who could do what he did, when he did it, and in the way he did it. His quirky character was as important in creating the championship teams as was his ability to move piles.

[VetSkinsFan]

Trey,

[riggofan]

I'm no fan of retiring numbers really, but Riggo will probably always be my favorite Redskin ever. As a little kid, I loved watching him play. And he's still entertaining as hell on his radio show to this day.

[John Manfreda]

But you're absolutely wrong about Riggins, and you know it. Yes, the Hogs were a great measure of his success. But Riggins was a great measure of the Redskins success. You couldn't just plug in any old running back and they'd do as well; no one else had the stamina and toughness to do what Riggins did for the Redskins, year in, and year out. The kind of punishment that man took was unreal. And he produced.

No, you couldn't plug in "just anyone." But you could have plugged in any number of running backs who would have gained more yardage on fewer carries behind that offensive line.

Emmitt Smith
Walter Payton
Barry Sanders
Curtis Martin
Franco Harris
Tony Dorsett
Thurman Thomas
Jerome Bettis

However, nobody could replace Riggins personality, and it is highly doubtful that anyone else would have been named a honorary Hog. Obviously, The Hogs themselves believed Riggins was that important to their success. And nobody can argue the career numbers.

The questions are: Would The Redskins have replaced Riggins for anyone else? No.
Would The Hogs have replaced Riggins for anyone else? No.
Would Redskins fans have traded Riggins for anyone else? No.

Those are all great players that have high place in their franchise's fans heart. Franco Harris and Tony were on stacked teams as well. Barry Sanders was actually taken out of the Lions offense in goal situations, so he wouldn't have fit in with the team as well as Riggins.

[aswas71788]

GSPODS

Point or not, I enjoyed the discussion.

[SkinsFreak]

GSPODS

Point or not, I enjoyed the discussion.

I was bored. I'm fairly confident GSPODS was simply making the whole thing up because he had nothing better to do. He actually loves Riggo.

[GSPODS]

GSPODS

Point or not, I enjoyed the discussion.

I was bored. I'm fairly confident GSPODS was simply making the whole thing up because he had nothing better to do. He actually loves Riggo.

Well, I won't be swapping spit with the man in this lifetime, or any other.
But, as Redskins players go, Riggo's certainly on my short list.
Sometimes, the best way to get people's true feelings is to play Devil's Advocate. It prevents 600 posts that say, "I agree."