It was January 1983. At age 15 I sat down to watch my first superbowl at stupid o'clock. The team I had decided I had a fancy for were there playing against the Miami Dolphins. I had started watching football on Channel 4 and something about Washington Redskins just attracted me to them. 

That something was number 44 brutish running back John Riggins. Watching these highlights I just loved his hard running knock you over style. I loved hearing the diesel horn every time he got the ball. He had none of the finesse of a Barkley or McCaffrey of today. He just put his feet in the ground and hit you hard. And that Superbowl belonged to "the diesel" With 10 minutes to go we're down 17-13 with a 4th and 1 around midfield and he takes the hand-off from Joe Theisman. Not only does Riggo get the crucial first down, he evades the despairing dive of the Dolphins safety and chugs all the way to the end zone to give us a lead we wouldn't surrender and indeed we added to it to win our first SB. 

But Riggins didn't just win us the Superbowl that year. Call it bias if you want but to my mind he had the best ever play off series by an individual player that season. Against the Lions, Vikings, Cowboys and the Dolphins in Pasadena he carried the ball 136 times for 610 yards and 4 TDs. These are stats that I can't see being matched or bettered. An average of over 150 yards per game in a play off series. And he was 33 years old. 

So whenever anyone asks why it's Washington for me I just say it's because of a hard running number 44 who I sat watching dismantle the Dolphins at 3am on a Monday morning before going to school. And it's because of him that I get to watch my first ever game in the USA this coming September.

The hometown NFL team I grew up watching (Cincinnati Bengals), as well as ALL things NFL amd NBA. I bring broad view of both the NFL and NBA from the past to the present, as well as other sports. Blogger, poscaster, livestreamer who loves all sports, especially the NFL and NBA.