Riggins record

[flock53]

Where did I say I have no problems with current players bashing the team?

The point was that poster got so worked up over a criticism of Riggins, yet has "Jason Campbell Sucks" in his sig.

And to others: my first post I put toxic atmosphere in quotation marks for a reason, and I was talking about the drinking etc. that went on on a regular basis then culminated in some players doing it the night before the Superbowl. It's not a healthy attitude on a team, no matter the era. Point being, while people want to criticize CP for being "toxic" or whatever, they turn a blind eye at the transgressions of Riggins in the same breath, but he's excused because the team won a Superbowl with him.

Both CP and Riggins have their good aspects and their flaws. Neither should be ignored, which is what it seemed, to me, the OP was doing. I said in my first post CP and Riggins had good and bad things, but everyone apparently decided to gloss over that and make assumptions about my post instead. Oh well.

Hes not excused because of the trophy. It was a culture thing back them, different times and things were more exceptable. There wasnt 24-7 media coverage that stopped on the sidelines and have a truck outside your home, making sure you got home at curfew or out cheating on your wife or blowing your money that you earn at a stripclub. Namath wasnt criticized for beeing brash or if he was it was out of jealousy, every owner would have had him qb their team, and if say different, they're lying (or stupid).

[flock53]

i recall reading threads about that and to my shock, majority of posters were on portis side. most claimed tht portis was the better back and that he would break the record, kind of degrading riggins while saying it.

now, everybody hates portis and has ill feelings towards him. LOL unreal i tell ya.

I NEVER liked CP, dont put me in that group. Didnt like the trade, especially giving another pick. We should have sent Champ to the Raiders to die for Woodson, who wasnt happy there for obvious reasons. Maybe he was already a Packer, I dont know. Point is you dont trade a shutdown CB for a RB and give a pick. This isnt CPs fault of course. I wouldnt call CP a better back. Different styles and its not like he dominated in the passing game, not a lot of receptions. Wait thats cause hes such a BEAST of a blocker :doh: Should have been out in a pattern. Everone just loves the long ball. Personally I dont care if it took CP 1 run to get a touchdown and Riggo 3-4. One thing 4 sure is Riggo wasnt denied the endzone 5 yards out.

[mcarey032]

Riggo was one of my favorite players growing up, but it would be disingenuous to say that Riggo was not an ego maniac and all that. Riggo would sit out of practices and actually stay at Arlington hospital to avoid practicing. I don't think that it really matters if Portis breaks the record or not. If he breaks the record it will be because Shanahan has thought that he has earned and clearly he will be producing well enough to get there. Riggo is great and I love the guy, but does it really matter if his record is broken or not by Portis? Riggo will be first in my mind as one of the greatest if not the greatest Redskins player I have ever seen.

[Hoggin]

I would LOVE to see Clinton break Riggins record.

This guy had to change his whole running style to fit a more physical,bruising type run game. How likely is it that he (Chris Samuels,Santana Moss) will get a Superbowl ring here with the Redskins?? They have spent their best years on teams that has very little success. I hope whatever career accomplishments they can achieve, they are able to.

I dont care either way if he breaks Riggins record. However, I do agree 100% with everything else said.

[MWCREDSKINS]

Not me, Clinton has no right to be our all time leading rusher or 2nd for that matter. Riggo and Larry Brown are be representation of the Redskins than Portis

[evmiii]

All records are destined to be broken. I understand the current bitterness to Clinton Portis, but he did have some good years here. I hope our next stud running back (whomever he is) breaks every record we have. That should translate to wins; thats all that really matters.

[98BigBody]

All records are destined to be broken. I understand the current bitterness to Clinton Portis, but he did have some good years here. I hope our next stud running back (whomever he is) breaks every record we have. That should translate to wins; thats all that really matters.

Exactly! If we retain CP,and he does well here,everyone would hop back on the Portis wagon.Thats what Redskins fans do they Hop on player wagons,either after a good one game preformance,or solid half of season.

Somthing I like to call Redskins Emotion:doh: The Fans love/hate thing for players.Example- Cooley was loved here,intill he got hurt.Davis came in and stepped up and has played great.Now Fans want Cooley gone to keep Davis(I agree with a trade,if a high pick is recevied for CC)My point is this,say we trade Cools,But Davis has a tough season next year.I can bet my life savings,that fans will be saying stuff like"We should have never traded Cooley for this bum" or "Davis is a bust" Davis will be looked at as the bad guy, for no other reason than the fans bitterness from losing Cooley.The point I am trying to make is, threads like this have no meaning besides making great"bump back up" threads.If we kept CP(not going to happen)He does well,

everyone who is screaming for him to be cut,Probably will changed their tune to "CP just need the MS system" or "see what Practice does CP" Thats just what we do as fans here in Dc.To answer the OP,Yes i wanted CP or anyone else to break the record if the earned it like CP did.If we have to hope and pray that Portis gets injured or Is cut before he breaks the record,then CP must be doing his job.The fear alone,why would anyone Fear that a bum will have a chance at breaking Riggo's rushing record?IF MS said today, LB is the starter next season would any one be thinking I hope Betts gets hurt or is cut before he get the Rushing record?No, know why?, becuase we know that there is no way that he can break the record even if he wanted to.The Fact that CP didnt even have to play all them years it took Riggo to get the record speaks volume for CP's career with DC.I hope anyone breaks any record if the earn it the right way,that way is leaving it all on the feild on Sunday

[Dan T.]

It's somewhat ironic that for as antagonistic as those two apparently are, they are very similar in personality. Each seems to have an ego that needs stroking. Each seeks the spotlight and speaks his mind without calculating the consequences of what is said. Maybe the difference is that because Riggins played on Super Bowl teams, his foibles were tolerated moreso than Portis', especially now that Portis' best years seem to be behind him and the team has done so poorly. When they were fighting for the playoffs, people didn't mind Portis so much.

[Schizlor]

To be fair, the "toxic atmosphere" created by Riggo and others probably cost us the Superbowl against the Raiders.

Both CP and Riggo are egomaniacs. Both have their positives and their flaws. I don't care at this point whether or not CP breaks the record, I just want us to have a solid RB again.

Yes, but one might say he also single-handedly won us the superbowl the year before. CP hasn't done anything close to that

Riggo all the way

[98BigBody]

Yes, but one might say he also single-handedly won us the superbowl the year before. CP hasn't done anything close to that

Riggo all the way

Enough is enough!

Riggo has Single handedly won us nothing:doh: The Skins were one of the best teams to ever had been put together those years.Joe Gibbs is one of the greatest coaches ever.Now if Riggo won a Super bowl with the Dirtbags(with a new linemen change every week),this Cream puff offenses we had over the last 5 years,And Jim Zorn is the head coach (not to mention JC is the Qb).then i would say He single handed won....Question, if are team wasn't good then how did we when 3 suberbowls with three different Rb's and Qb's?

I think even Ladell Betts would have won a Sb with that team,Damn sure CP,or Steven "the fumbler" Davis would have won.I love Riggo but he was Helped by his entire team..

[scruffylookin]

Yes, but one might say he also single-handedly won us the superbowl the year before. CP hasn't done anything close to that

Riggo all the way

Anyone who says that knows nothing of those Redskin teams.

If a single player won us anything during that era, it was Joe Theismann. He was the most important player on those teams. We lose him, the Redskins go nowhere.

If you're talking specifically the Super Bowl, then I would say it was the offensive line that wore the Dolphins down that won us that game. As for Riggins, fate smiled on him that night. Don McNeil slips as he follows Clint Didier in motion and thus he meets Riggins at and angle and not square up. Of course there is also the infamous fumble late in Super Bowl 17 that if it had been ruled properly, could have transformed Riggins into Super Bowl history's biggest goat.

Also as for Clinton "not having done anything close to that", depends on your definition I guess. No Clinton has never been a member of a Super Bowl team. But I would counter that at similar points in their respective careers (8 seasons), Clinton has accomplished light years more than John Riggins did. Hell forget the 2 Denver years, just look at their respective first 6 seasons with the Redskins and Clinton destroys John Riggins.

In some ways Mike Shanahan arrives in Washington at a similar point in Clinton's career as Joe Gibbs arrived in John Riggins' career. So we'll see what happens from here. Up to this point, Clinton has outperformed John Riggins, it's not even up for a debate and anyone who tries is just clueless. But John Riggins and the new coaching staff found their comfort level with eachother, Joe Theismann blossomed into an elite QB and the offensive line became one of the best in NFL history and John Riggins went on to become a legend. Lets see what happens with Clinton. Perhaps he buys into the Shanahan edict, Shanahan finds his QB (be it Jason or someone else) and gets elite play out of them and of course he rebuilds the horrid offensive line. Maybe Clinton will have a final 3 or 4 seasons similar to Riggins if that happens.

Or he could say "see ya" and not buy in and if that happens nobody has to worry about him breaking the record because he won't be here and will fall just short.

But if Clinton breaks the record, he will earn it. He had the two top rushing seasons in club history. He ran for well over a 1000 yards every season he was healthy. And if he's around next year to break the record, he will earn it because Shanahan will make him earn his spot and playing time.

The scenario that I think Clinton haters would have had a legit gripe about him breaking the record would have been if Snyder was still in charge of things with personnel and he demanded that Clinton stay on the team regardless of what Zorn wanted and Clinton continued to struggle and basically inched his way past Riggins that way. That would have been unfortunate (but I must admit that I would have enjoyed watching the Riggins worshippers/Clinton haters' collective heads explode).

Just remember people. John Riggins became JOHN RIGGINS/The Diesel/The Legend from the 1982 playoffs through the 1984 season and not from his career from 1971-1981. Point is, the book may not yet be finished with regards to Clinton Portis and his legacy in DC.

[Ernie5]

To be fair, the "toxic atmosphere" created by Riggo and others probably cost us the Superbowl against the Raiders.

Both CP and Riggo are egomaniacs. Both have their positives and their flaws. I don't care at this point whether or not CP breaks the record, I just want us to have a solid RB again.

Well put.

[Woofer]

...they turn a blind eye at the transgressions of Riggins in the same breath, but he's excused because the team won a Superbowl with him.

Exactly.

Now, as to all of these comments regarding "the Superbowl against the Raiders" and all that...what the heck are you guys talking about?

[Laxpunk2006]

I hope Clinton gets his head right, sticks around, and breaks the record. Even if it's only by 1 yard.

Riggins, if he played in today's era, would BE, Clinton Portis. Probably worse. And, slower.

Riggins, behind the lines Portis has had over the course of his time here, likely wouldn't even have been an average back.

Portis, behind the Hogs for that same amount of time, would have probably already caught Jim Brown on the all-time yardage list.

Larry Brown, was better than Riggins or Portis.

I couldn't have said this better myself other than the Larry Brown comment as I'm too young to have seen him play.

Riggins IS Portis. That's exactly why they don't like each other.

[Squidley]

To be fair, the "toxic atmosphere" created by Riggo and others probably cost us the Superbowl against the Raiders.

Its been a long time but I remember the players being out late getting drunk and getting T and A. Wasn't Joey T. caught cheating :ladiesman and we knew Riggo was prolly still drunk from the night before:puke:, sucking oxygen before the game even started......... If my memory serves me correct in SB22 and SB26 didn't Coach Joe have a 24 hour curfew for the team :coach:, just because of the crap that happened before SB18. Man that game is still sucking ...lol sorry to go off topic ..visions of Rocket Screen and Marcus Allen running all over the place overwhelmed me

I think its high time to let Clinton Tortoise go, he seem beat all to hell these days.

[michiskin]

If CP sticks around and runs for more yardage than Riggins, he deserves the record.

Period.

[Burgold]

Eh, records are for winners. Portis (through no fault of his own) hasn't been one here. Riggins is a Redskins hero that will be remembered long after Portis is an afterthought unless Portis and the Redskins really surprise in the next two years.

I do think that Portis and Riggo were alike, but I think that Riggos playfulness was inclusive and at times self destructive while Portis' has become exclusive and corrosive. The difference is probably about winning. Even TO is supposedly a good team mate when everything is going well.

[NOLASKINSFAN]

It you wouldn't have said this in 2007 don't say it now.

CP w/ Hogs >>>> Riggo w/hogs

[Burgold]

Dude CP with the Hogs would have been a disaster. Sure, a three year old may get lost behind the line and hard to see, but really would be a fumble risk and just not fast enough to exploit the holes at all. You think he trips over his feet all the time today? Try giving him a football and tell him to run a sweep at age three.