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Riley and Riggins


HailVictory

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looking back on it most people don't realize that at 6'2 and 235 Riggins ran a 4.6 40 yard dash and that was after age 30.

some guys work hard and make it on tenacity. some guys have all the gifts in the world and do nothing with them.

a guy like Riggins had all the ability in the world and worked hard behind the scenes so on Sunday a lot of it looked easier than it really was.

The most amazing thing? At age 35, in 1984 Riggins ran for 1,239 yards. AGE 35. cool.gif

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What amazed me with Riggins was how fast he was running once he was going flat out, compared to how slowly he accelerated.

That guy was all top end, and I think it used to fool a lot of defenders, especially guys in the backfield.

They would see Riggins wait on his blocking, then power into the hole, and it appeared that they were lulled into thinking that they had the time to get to the play.

But his acceleration didn't stop at that point, and he was able to kick it into an overdrive that would leave most defensive backs eating his dust. I don't think that they could believe that a big man could be so fast.

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He also just plain flat doesn't look like he's built for speed. He was one of those guys who would never go down on the first hit, and who could never be arm-tackled or grabbed by the upper body and brought down, and who would always fall forward. (Stephen Davis is another one- though I'm not comparing him to Riggins just yet.) So I wonder what it must have felt like to be a safety, watching him shed himself of d-linemen and LB's front of you, taking an angle to him only to realize that it was too shallow of an angle and that he's now running by you into the end zone.

------------------

"Loosen up, Sandy baby. You're just too damn tight!" - John Riggins to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

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yeah, he did. He was featured in an NFL 100 meter dash one year in the early 1970's and didn't finish too far behind some of the speedsters of the day.

but then again, most people forget that Riggins was a top 5 pick in the 1971 draft by the Jets.

this was not a rags to riches athlete like Kurt Warner. Riggins was a high profile player from the start both within his state and then as a national all-American.

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Riggins was a huge star coming out of Kansas- All American I believe. He claims that he was under utilized by his coach, who thought he should be a blocker for someone his size, otherwise he would have put up bigger numbers.

Quick Quiz: Who was Riggo's head coach at Kansas?

(Hint: He almost became the Redskins coach after Norv.)

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Yes, ol' Pepper Rogers. Riggo hated the guy and thought he was trying to ruin his career. Riggo laughed once he heard that Pepper was a candidate for the job and came to a monumental conclusion:

Dan Snyder did not know what he was doing! Pepper was whispering in his ear the whole season and Dan bought into his BS. Riggo went on to say that all of Pepper's "advice" was BS, and he didn't know what the heck he was talking about.

Got to love Riggo's no nonsense approach laugh.gif

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