Oct
15
John Riggins posted linked to this video on his Twitter account, @riggo44, on Wednesday, writing, “How do ya clean up the train wreck that is the Washington professional f-ball team? here’s step 1 from the cyber GM….” As the Redskins’ season has gone downhill, many fans have become increasingly discontent with the team and especially the ownership, inspiring many to take their frustrations to the blogosphere. (See my last post.) But as you can see, it’s not only regular fans who have joined in the fray.
The Redskins Hall of Famer and Super Bowl XVII MVP – who doesn’t love the Riggins run? – has decided to take his own stand against current Redskins leadership. His YouTube account has been up since Aug. 31, but the first video post on the Skins came just one week ago after the team’s sloppy win against Tampa Bay. Since then, three more posts have gone up giving the notoriously outspoken Riggo’s take on the team’s woes.
As you can see, no one is safe. The delivery might not be nasty or mean-spirited. But when one of the top players in the history of your organization tells coach Jim Zorn, “Jim, you too are not a head football coach in the NFL. High school? Definitely,” and “I do wish you luck … but you are gone,” that hurts more than the most profanity-laced fan diatribe. And it can do more damage. Fan blogs and online petitions are one thing, as it is near impossible to gather the grassroots support necessary to take on a multimillion-dollar franchise even with the power of the Internet on your side. But with Riggins providing tweets, videos, and a famous face to grab media attention and rally fans… Well, it’s still a tough mission, but team management might be getting uncomfortable.
