The Washington Commanders will retire John Riggins' No. 44 on Nov. 8, honoring the Hall of Fame running back during their game against the Los Angeles Rams. It will make Riggins the seventh player in franchise history to have his number retired.
The timing is specific, and that is what gives the announcement its weight. Nov. 8 is not a throwaway date on the calendar; it is the day the Commanders have set aside to put one of their defining players back in the center of the franchise's story, more than 40 years after he powered Washington to its first Super Bowl win.
Riggins spent his Washington years from 1976 to 1985 piling up 7,742 rushing yards, still the most in franchise history, and 79 rushing touchdowns. He is second in team history with 85 touchdowns overall. His peak came after the 1982 season, when he led Washington to a 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, ran for 166 yards and won Super Bowl MVP. On fourth-and-1 with 10:10 remaining, he broke a 43-yard touchdown run that put Washington ahead for good, a single play that helped define his place in franchise memory.
The honor also closes a long stretch in which Riggins was not always close to the team he helped define. He once called former owner Dan Snyder a dark heart and was publicly unhappy with the name change to the Commanders. Yet the relationship has softened in recent years. Riggins worked on the team's flagship radio station in 2016, attended the 2023 season opener after Josh Harris bought the team, and was back around the club at an OTA practice this spring. In a nearly seven-minute video made for the retirement, he said it was paramount to him to put a smile on fans' faces because he was always seeking their approval, and that he operated out of fear and not wanting to disappoint people.
The Commanders have already retired the numbers of Sammy Baugh, Bobby Mitchell, Sean Taylor, Darrell Green, Sonny Jurgensen and Art Monk, so Riggins joins a small group that spans the franchise's best eras. All but Sean Taylor are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No. 44 will now sit alongside them, and the next moment that matters is simple: Nov. 8, when Riggins is back in the building and Washington formally gives him the place in its history that his play has long demanded.
