It’s Super Bowl XVII at the Rose Bowl in southern California and Washington is trailing by four points with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
Needing less than a yard, but on fourth down, Washington turns and hands the ball to running back John Riggins who gains the yard needed, and 42 more. By the time he’s done he’s in the end zone having just completed the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history at the time and his team has just taken the lead they’ll never relinquish because of it.
Hard to believe then that he was just two seasons removed from a year-long holdout that cost him one and is ranked as the seventh-best comeback in NFL history according to 33rd Team‘s Ian Valentino.
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“”The best was yet to come for Riggins. After two low-impact seasons in Washington, he posted back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 1978 and 1979. This spike in production led to a contract holdout that caused Riggins to miss the 1980 season,” Valentino wrote in his rankings piece.
“He returned to Washington in 1981 when Joe Gibbs took over as head coach. Over the next five years, Riggins redefined his legacy as an All-Pro and Super Bowl MVP. He led the NFL in rushing attempts in 1982 and rushing touchdowns in 1983 and 1984.”
The second half of Riggins’ career is one made for storybooks and better alone than the full careers of many other running backs that have come and gone through the NFL.
But Riggins isn’t alone in making this listing. Quarterback Alex Smith also makes the list, and in fact comes in higher than Riggins, ranking second overall after coming back from arguably the worst leg injury the NFL has ever seen.
“It was terrible in the moment and then got worse. Smith developed an infection that led to sepsis, putting his life in danger, Valentino recalled. “After his infection was treated, plastic surgeons used muscle, fascia, fat, and skin from Smith’s thigh to put his shin back together. Playing football again, especially as he turned 36 in 2020, seemed impossible. But Smith’s determination eventually got him back on the field after missing 2019.
“Smith played in eight games in 2020 for the Commanders, winning five of his six starts. Just for stepping onto the field again, he was the obvious Comeback Player of the Year winner. 2020 was his final season in the NFL, and it was a massive success, considering he was fighting for his life a year earlier.”
Smith’s return wasn’t the fairytale ending the league would have liked it to be, and the quarterback himself has voiced his frustrations with the process it took for him to get back on the field in the first place.
Still, his ability to overcome what he did – the injury and those standing in his way – is impressive, and well worth a spot on Valentino’s list.
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