Pro Football Hall of Famer John Riggins has demanded that his name be taken off of the new Washington Commanders jerseys, saying that he felt “dirty” seeing his name on a team jersey that wasn’t his own.
Riggins was a star rusher for the Washington Redskins in the 1970s and 1980s. He explains, “I feel completely disenfranchised. I can’t understand how anyone who once played under the old franchise name could possibly want to be a part of anything to do with the Washington Commanders.”
Due to the offensive nature of the term redskins to Native Americans, the team dropped that name in 2020, a move that Riggins stated he had supported. In his podcast, “The John Riggins Show”, however, he said that, while he knew the name change was coming, he never dreamed he was going to feel the way he does after seeing his name on the new jerseys. Riggins said that he didn’t like his name on a jersey associated with a team he didn’t play for.
“That makes me feel filthy,” Riggins added. “I feel dirty, I don’t want anything to do with it. Maybe I will change. Maybe I need a little more time, I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right to me.”
Riggins made history in 1983 in Super Bowl XVII when he scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
