Sentiment Changes as Redskins’ Riggs Faces Falcons

It’s easy for Gerald Riggs, now with the Washington Redskins, to select his most memorable moment with the Atlanta Falcons.

“Winning against this team (the Redskins) the year they won the Super Bowl,” the veteran running back said.

“It came down right before the 1987 strike. We played one hell of a of a game. I had like 120-some yards. I’ve had better games, but I remember that day very well. That was one of those games that, at the end of the year, regardless of how our schedule turned out, we were one of the teams that beat the Super Bowl champions,” Riggs said.

Riggs rushed for 120 yards on 23 carries and scored the winning touchdown on a four-yard run to give the Falcons a 21-20 victory in the second game of the year.

The problem was that highlights like that were few and far between for Riggs in Atlanta.

While the Redskins went on to win the Super Bowl, the Falcons won only two more games, and one of those was a strike game.

Riggs finally asked to be traded because he was tired of losing.

The Redskins traded for him on draft day in April, but things haven’t worked out the way he had hoped.

Hobbled by a sore arch, he played only one quarter of a five-game stretch in mid-season. He’s back now, although he said he’s still not 100 percent and has been limited to spot duty while Earnest Byner plays with a three-wide receiver set.

It’s made for a frustrating year.

“I was really, really intent on making some things happen here. It didn’t happen that way. I’m really not happy with the way it went this year,” Riggs said.

He knows it could be worse, though. He could still be struggling with the Falcons.

As the Falcons prepare to play host to the Redskins today for the first time since the 1987 game, they are still going nowhere.

They’re 3-11, Coach Marion Campbell has retired and Jim Hanifan is filling in.

Riggs can understand the plight of the Atlanta players.

“I know what they’re going through. I’ve been through it. To come here, where things are a lot different from the standpoint of winning, from the way things are done, I can see why this organization has been up on top,” he said.

When asked for some specific examples, he said, “Let’s not get into that.”

He left little doubt, though, that while he still has a lot of friends among the Atlanta players, he’s not fond of the organization.

One of the reasons he got to Washington was the way he played against the Redskins. In four games against them, he carried 79 times for 429 yards, a 5.4 average.

Coach Joe Gibbs remembers those days very well.

“Guys would come to the sidelines and say, ‘I got my arms around him and I can’t get him down.’ He was storming through people. You could see him run over everybody you’ve got. If you can’t whip ‘em, get ‘em,” Gibbs said.

The Redskins got him, but so far the deal hasn’t had a major impact on either team.

Meanwhile, Riggs is eager for a chance to play against the Falcons, although he knows he’ll see limited duty.

“I was looking forward to this one from day one,” he said. “Whatever (playing time) I get, I’ll definitely be fired up to be in there.”