Legacy Untouchable

Why would anyone be surprised to hear John Riggins rip into Redskins team owner Daniel Snyder on Showtime's weekly NFL anthology show? Do we need to be reminded about all manner of previous verbal Riggo drill classics, as in: "I'm bored, I'm broke and I'm back," after ending a season-long holdout in the early 1980s. "Loosen up Sandy, baby," directed at Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at a memorable banquet (he may not remember himself, for all the obvious reasons). "Ronald Reagan may be the president, but I'm the king," not long after scoring the clinching fourth-quarter touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII. Riggins has been ripping into Snyder and his Redskins Park minions all season, which is certainly his right as a paid pundit on various local media outlets, as well as his hilarious YouTube contributions. He's paid for his opinions, and anyone who has ever spent any time with Riggins face-to-face or watched him for years sparring with George Michael and Sonny Jurgensen, on Channel 4, knows he's never been shy in expressing them. Does he have an axe to grind, the operative clich?? being used by all his critics? Well, he was working for one of Snyder's radio stations up until last year, but when ESPN 980 also was purchased by Snyder, there was no room in the lineup for a guy who surely would have rattled a lot more coffee cups than a few of the sports talk hosts now employed (are you listening John Thompson, a frequent guest in Snyder's owners box on game days). So you decide about that ax. Did he go too far in describing Snyder as being a "bad guy" or having a "dark heart?" Riggins knows the man far better than I do, and if that's what he believes, more power to him for telling it the way he sees it. Amazing that other former Redskins, particularly Brian Mitchell and LaVar Arrington, also have been taking heavy on-air shots at Snyder as well. As for Riggins' legacy being tarnished by his comments. Please spare me. He's in the Hall of Fame. He rivals Sonny Jurgensen as arguably the most popular Redskin of all time, both when he played and now that he's retired. They're not going to throw him out of Canton. His records are still on the books. That touchdown against Miami will always rank as one of the all-time greatest plays in team history, if not the very best of the best. He's John Riggins. The Diesel. Big John. Riggo. That will never change. Never.