Chat With John Riggins

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http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/5946918.htm

Posted on Mon, May. 26, 2003

CHAT ROOM: John Riggins, NFL Hall of Famer

By David Martindale

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

LORENZO BEVILAQUA/PGP

JOHN RIGGINS

As John Riggins sees it, racking up touchdowns as an NFL fullback and portraying a cuckold husband as a soap-opera actor aren't as different as many people seem to believe.

"They're both about entertaining people, and that's what I love doing," says Riggins, whose 14 seasons with the New York Jets and Washington Redskins were highlighted by his MVP performance for the Redskins in Super Bowl XVII. "My wife walks away when I start talking about the similarities between football and acting. She's heard it so many times. But I really find there are a lot of similarities."

Riggins, whose interest in acting dates to the early 1990s, began a recurring role this month on Guiding Light. He plays Mitch Hendon, an ex-Marine who is suspicious of his wife (played by Colleen Dion) and her personal assistant (Matthew Bomer). His final episodes until he returns in July are at 2 p.m. today and Tuesday on KTVT/Channel 11.

Do you miss playing football? Not really. The regular season, for me anyway, by about my 13th year, got to be a lot of work. The playoffs were what it was all about for me. If you could get through the regular season to get to the playoffs, it was all worthwhile. But if I had known any given year that I was going to play a regular season with no hopes of getting in the playoffs, that would have been tough.

In 14 seasons, you rushed for 11,352 yards (Eleven all-time) and scored 116 touchdowns (No. 8 all time). In the Super Bowl, you ran for 166 yards to lead the Redskins past Miami 27-17. When you retired, did you feel there was anything to accomplish that you had left undone? No, I didn't really look at it like I was trying to create some legacy -- like the way, say, Emmitt Smith is definitely trying to leave a legacy behind. I don't want to take anything away from the guys who do that, but, when I got out of football, I wasn't sitting around wishing I could still be playing. Although, to this day, I have a dream that I'm still playing. But it's not like I'm dreaming I'm in my 20s or early 30s. I'm dreaming that I'm 53 years old and I'm playing. And it ends before I have to take a shot. Somehow I wake up from the dream before somebody shatters every bone in my body by hitting me.

You worked for several years as an NFL analyst in Washington. Any desire to do that on a national level? If it were between that and an acting role, I would take the acting role, because it's new to me and it really excites me. I played football for 14 years professionally, and I guess eight before that not professionally. And I've been talking about it for the past 15 years. I've taken that about as far as I can. So doing something else, where I can create something completely different, that sounds like more fun.

And acting in Guiding Light satisfies that need? Somebody interviewed me not long ago and said, "But it's just soap opera acting." But I've found that this is very, very challenging. The rehearsal time is nil. At best, you can work on some stuff with the people in your scene maybe a couple of times and hope you find some real moments before they say, "Roll tape." These guys work hard, and they work without a net. It is very demanding, and I've had a lot of fun doing it.