Commanders to retire No. 44 of HOF RB Riggins
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- Washington Commanders are retiring Riggins' No. 44 on Nov. 8 vs. the Los Angeles Rams, making him the seventh player in franchise history to have his number retired, joining Baugh (33), Mitchell (49), Taylor (21), Green (28), Jurgensen (9), and Monk (81)
- Riggins remains the franchise's all-time leading rusher with 7,742 yards and owns 79 rushing touchdowns — 33 more than second-place Clinton Portis — during his 1976–1985 tenure
- Riggins was named Super Bowl MVP after the 1982 season, rushing for 166 yards including a 43-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 that gave Washington a 20-17 lead in a 27-17 win over the Miami Dolphins
- Riggins set an NFL postseason record with 610 rushing yards in that four-game playoff run, and in 1984 at age 35 became the oldest player in league history to rush for more than 1,000 yards
- Riggins was estranged from the franchise under former owner Dan Snyder — whom he accused of having a "dark heart" — and publicly opposed the team's name change, but reconciled after Josh Harris purchased the team in 2023, attending the 2023 season opener and a spring OTA practice
- Riggins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992 and retired with 11,352 career rushing yards and 104 touchdowns across stints with the New York Jets and Washington
Why it matters: The ceremony closes the book on Riggins' years-long estrangement from the franchise under Snyder, formalizing his reconnection after the 2023 ownership change — and it continues Harris's push to re-anchor the team's identity to its 1980s and 1990s glory eras, with Green's and Monk's numbers already retired since the sale.
