John Riggins is as closely identified with the Washington NFL franchise as anyone, but he is very much not feeling the team’s nickname change.
Riggins, a former fullback and Super Bowl XVII MVP, said he felt “completely disenfranchised” by the change to the Commanders nickname, and questioned how any former player could take part in the nickname’s unveiling.
“I feel completely disenfranchised,” Riggins said on his podcast, “The John Riggins Show.” “And I cannot, for the life of me, understand how anybody who once played under the original franchise name could possibly want to be a part of anything with ‘Washington Commanders.’ It’s like, all of a sudden, you’ve entered oblivion.
“The guys that showed up last week that were out there, for you guys, you’ve got a different point of view because it’s like a different culture. But for John Riggins … I kind of look at them and go ‘What’s wrong with you? Don’t you get it? You were invited to your own funeral.'”
Riggins said he felt the Redskins nickname had been meant as an honor, though he also admitted that he was not Native American and everyone was entitled to their own opinion. His biggest gripe seemed to be that the name change essentially nullified the franchise’s history and his part in it.
“I don’t know. John Riggins, he played for the…who’d he play for? Can’t say that, can you?” Riggins said.
Riggins has been a longtime critic of owner Daniel Snyder, and he took issue with what he sees as a losing franchise using the rebranding to try to distract from its issues.
The reaction to the new nickname has been mixed, and Riggins certainly isn’t the only one to dislike it. That said, he isn’t going to be forgotten by history. Everyone will remember the Washington franchise has always been around, as well as the fact that the likes of Joe Theismann and Doug Williams starred for it. The same is true of Riggins.
More must-reads: