John Riggins Is Still Chopping Wood
Back in October 2009 John Riggins delivered several YouTube videos bashing the Redskins while sitting atop a pile of wood. Over a year and a half later Riggo is still splitting and piling massive amounts of wood with his bare hands. Witness these 2 photos that Riggo posted to his Facebook page yesterday.
Some observations of the above photos:
Riggo lives on the Potomac and appears to have a Dan Snyder type project going on with the clearing of trees off his property.
I haven’t seen that particular color blue on a pair of blue jeans since Bo Duke went hood sliding across the General Lee.
Riggins is in great shape for a guy who is 61 years old! I have no doubt that on a 4th and 1 or in a goal-line situation Riggo could still get us a TD or a 1st down.
That’s one of the largest piles of wood I’ve ever seen and Riggins stated on FB that he cut it all with an axe and hand tools, no chainsaws. And he did it wearing flip flops?
I can’t make out what type of beer Riggo was drinking…somebody please tell me.
Cheers and Hail
Old Redskins Park Autographs Part 2
Back in the day Redskins Park used to offer 8×10 B&W’s of the players for $2.00 (if I can remember correctly.) I’m not sure if this is still offered today and I’m not sure if B.J. still works there, but if she does…she’d be the one to tell you if they do. B.J. was/is the long time receptionist at Redskins Park and would be an awesome interview, Matt Terl? She’s probably got more stories than the players, coaches and front office combined. Below are some of my B&W’s.
Greatest KR in the history of the NFL. Look closely at this picture…there’s so much to love. He’s working the pinky ring, gold watch and a Redskins gold medallion necklace!
Darrell’s got one of the greatest smiles I’ve ever seen, I think his smile could cover most of the WR’s in the NFL today…not to mention that at age 50 he’s still faster than most players in the NFL.
The mullet, the stache. If you never got to play the Donnie Warren game with Fatpickle and Porkboy…then you missed out, that game and Donnie will live forever!
Doug was always awesome with me…not sure what happened here?
In Gus we trust! Does Gus not look like he could be a cast member of Jersey Shore?
Back in the mid 90′s I wanted to promote a fight, Ken Harvey vs. Greg Lloyd. As a matter of fact, I’d like to see that fight right now! Ken is one of the nicest guys on earth…and he could kill you with his bare hands.
Love KB, he rushed for over 4K yards in 3 seasons with USFL.
Yes, Ricky once wore #46. He also had 193 receiving yards in Super Bowl XXII…168 yards in the 2nd quarter alone. Awesome guy!
If you’ve ever been to the Ice House in Herndon, Va…then you’ve been to my Grandmother’s old bar. It used to be Margaret’s Inn and it was a place many Redskins visited in the late 70′s to blow off steam and drink a few beers. Riggo knew my Nanny well.
Mark was on IR the year he signed this picture, with one of those mysterious injuries that would come up late in the preseason. Gibb’s young QB’s always came up with those phantom injuries back in the day. Give them a clipboard and make them wear an ugly sweater until they’re ready to play. Anyway, he was healthy enough to sign this picture and toss the nerf football around with me.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Categories: Redskins
Tags: brian mitchell, darrell green, don warren, doug williams, gus frerotte, Kelvin Bryant, ken harvey, mark rypien, ricky sanders, riggo
Giving The Redskins Some Tough Love
The sites been quiet the past several days, quite honestly I’ve been pretty numb about the Redskins. For the first time in forever, I don’t have a positive spin to put on the situation. I’ve been an eternal optimist in regards to the Skins, but I no longer see a light at the end of the tunnel. After some hard thinking and long analysis (otherwise known as drinking heavily) I have come to one conclusion…it’s the front office’s fault. I hate to write negatively about the Redskins, but sometimes you have to sit down and have a talk to those that you love, give them a little “tough love.”
A couple weeks ago on ESPN Countdown, Tom Jackson said it best (I’m quoting from memory, may not be word for word) “Dan Snyder wants to win, he just doesn’t know how to win.” “He’s like a guy who’s got a leaky roof…but he ignores it and keeps on fixing up his basement.”
Of course everybody has an opinion on whose fault it is (i.e. Riggo YouTube,) it’s Zorn, It’s Campbell, it’s Snyder or it’s Cerrato. It’s clear to me that it’s the front office. The decisions being made out of Ashburn are clearly made by the tandem of Dan & Vinny…and quite frankly, it’s not working. These 2 peas in a pod can continue family movie night and their racquetball dates, but Vinny has to go for this organization to succeed. And when Vinny does go, Snyder must give full control to a great football mind and let them re-build this once proud franchise. A franchise that now gets booed at home at home regularly, and whose 2 wins have come against teams that lost last week by nearly 50 points.
This is the environment that Dan and Vinny have built. A team that struggles against the worst teams in the NFL, which means the Redskins, must be one of the worst teams? A team that cant’s score 20 points a game and hasn’t beaten a team by double digits since Gibbs left town nearly 2 years ago. As fans, we know the players on the field are playing hard and to the best of their abilities…unfortunately the front office is not putting those players in a position to succeed.
My next post will focus on the decisions that Dan & Vinny have made that have gotten the Redskins to where they are today.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, NFL, Redskins
Tags: riggo, washington redskins
August 4: Happy Bday Riggo And BJ
Happy birthday John Riggins. What more can I say about my favorite football player of all time? He’s a hall of famer, leads the Redskins in every all-time rushing category and raised hell with the best of them. I can’t believe he’s 60 years old today. I know he could jump on a field right now and get a TD from the 1 yard line or get 3 yards on a 3rd and 2. I will have a beer for you tonight Riggo. Happy 60th Mr. Riggins!
Happy birthday BJ Surhoff. BJ played 8 seasons over 2 separate stints with the Orioles, 1996-2000 and 03-05. He ranks in the top 25 all-time in almost every offensive statistic in the history of the Orioles and was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2007. For his career BJ batted .282 with 2,326 hits and 1,153 RBI’s. I love the way BJ played the game. He was a hardnosed ballplayer who could play any position. He was the #1 overall draft pick in the 1985 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was also the 1985 ACC Male Athlete of the Year, sandwiched between 1984 winner Michael Jordan, and 1985 winner Len Bias. BJ has been busy in his retirement. He was a spring training instructor for the O’s in 2008 and traveled to China with Cal in to 2007 to instruct children how to play baseball. He’s also the Vice President of Pathfinders for Autism and has spent many years trying to help in the fight against the disorder that his son Mason was diagnosed with. I had the opportunity to meet BJ and have him as one of my coaches at the Ripken Fantasy Camp. He’s a great guy and I think he’d make an awesome hitting coach or manager one day (if he wants to.) Happy 45th Mr. Surhoff… (I won’t drop any more fly balls!)
Happy birthday Ravin Caldwell. Ravin spent 6 of his 7 NFL seasons with the Redskins from 1987-1993. He was a linebacker and special teams standout. Ravin appeared in 79 games, starting 14 and won 2 Super Bowl rings during his tenure. One of the highlights of my many trips to Redskins Park as a youth was watching highlights of the 87’ Super Bowl in the locker room area with Ravin and Reggie Branch. Ravin’s daughter was one of the top ranked women’s high school basketball players last year and will play for Cal this fall. Happy 46th Mr. Caldwell.
Happy birthday Jon Knott. There’s not much to say about Jon, he played a total of 7 games with the O’s in 2007. But, Jon was born in my hometown of Manassas, VA…and that earns him a happy birthday. Jon is still plugging along in the Independent League, making a living playing ball. Happy 31st Mr. Knott.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, Orioles, Redskins
Tags: bj surhoff, happy bday, O's, ravin caldwell, riggo
Favorite All-Time NFL Player: John Riggins
This is one in a series of posts that I am writing about my favorite things. What’s your favorite things? Tell me in the comments section or email me from the main page of the site.
My favorite football player of all-time is John Riggins. Despite the fact that he has been retired for nearly 25 years, no other player has been able to unseat Riggo from this title. Of course, there’s never been another player that was quite like Riggo. Standing 6’2” and weighing 230lbs, he was a huge running back, but he had a personality even larger.
What a lot of people don’t know about John Riggins… he was FAST. People saw the big body, the “3 yards and a cloud of dust,” and thought he was slow. NOT! He was twice the 100 yd dash state title holder in high school. He also broke the state record, until then held by a guy by the name of Gale Sayers.
Everyone remembers and sees the highlight of Riggo’s 43yd TD, probably the single biggest play in Redskins history. What I remember is that play capping off the single best performance by any athlete, in any sport, in playoffs history. I defy anyone to tell me a better performance than Riggins in the 82 playoffs. He carried that team on his back. Here’s a quick look at his stats from those playoffs.
OPP ATT YDS TD
DET 25 119 0
MIN 37 185 1
DAL 36 140 2
MIA 38 166 1
For the those of you without a calculator, that’s 136 carries for 610 yards and 4 TD’s in 4 games. WOW!
As far as Riggo’s personality, great quotes, and funny stories, I highly recommend a google search.
Apologies to Art Monk, Darrell Green, Dexter Manley, and Gary Clark.
TRIVIA – On the day my grandmother retired from bartending John Riggins stopped by to give her his congrats. He also asked for a 6 pack to go 
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, NFL, Redskins
Tags: favorite things, nanny, riggo, washington redskins
Guys Night Out
You ever watch TV and say, “I’d like to have a beer with that guy.” Well I do too, and here’s my list for an ultimate night out with the boys. Yes…some of these guys are dead, so I guess its an “all-time” team. Which athlete would you want to hang out with for a night? I’d like to know, so leave your comments in the comment section, or email me @ [email protected] .
(photo courtesy of Sonders Photography)
Designated Driver - Gilbert Arenas
Donte Stallworth was begging for the keys, I’m out on that. Kurt Warner was an option here, but we’re going out to PAARTY. Not going to want to hear about God and all the sins we’re committing. Agent Zero loves to party and go clubbing, but doesn’t drink…perfect.
Bodyguard/Enforcer Guy - Andre The Giant
Several reasons why Andre is the man here. Billed @ 7’4″ and 550 lbs, I don’t think anyone will fuck with us. Andre also reportedly could drink 100 beers at 1 sitting! An added bonus, Andre could also carry 5 girls in his arms at a time.
Pretty Faced Wingmen - Derek Jeter (East Coast) Matt Leinart (West Coast)
Jeter has pulled more ass than a donkey farmer moving from Virgina to California. And his list is impressive, so he’ll be along to rake in the ladies. Leinart will have drunken sorority chicks lined up for us, as well as the Paris Hiltons and Lindsay Lohans of the world.
The Gamblers - Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley
A guys night out is not complete without placing a bet, and nobody gambles like these 2. As an added bonus, Barkley knows where to find the worlds best “booty call” BJ’s.
A guys night out is not complete without placing a bet, and nobody gambles like these 2. As an added bonus, Barkley knows where to find the worlds best “booty call” BJ’s.
The Fun and Games Guy - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
If the club and party scene sucks, you can always resort to the grown ups getting drunk and acting like kids games. Little E has it all at his house. Nightclub, go kart track, saloon, and even a jail.
If the club and party scene sucks, you can always resort to the grown ups getting drunk and acting like kids games. Little E has it all at his house. Nightclub, go kart track, saloon, and even a jail.
The Drinkers - John Daly, Mickey Mantle, John RigginsBringing along Daly means an obligatory stop at Hooters. Daly also is the most likely to end up in Earnhardts jail winner. Mantle’s drinking is legendary. In fact, anyone in sports whose ever had to get a liver transplant is invited out. Riggins is the guy most likely to run his mouth too much and require Andre to defuse a fight.
The Coach - Jimmy Johnson
With this many athletes on board, we got to have a coach. Pack some Heinekens and nachos, because the lip-smacker himself is our leader.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled
Tags: andre the giant, arenas, dale jr, jeter, MJ, riggo
