Gerald Riggs

A couple of assistant coaches walked up to Gerald Riggs in the Washington Redskins' locker room during training camp. They wore concerned looks on their faces. "The guy wants your insurance number," one of them told Riggs. "Huh," Riggs said. "What guy?" "The guy who owns the truck," the coach said. "That wasn't my fault," Riggs said. "You caved in the whole side of his truck. He wants your insurance policy," the coach said. Riggs was getting worried.

The Washington Redskins waived short-yardage running back Gerald Riggs, who is 13th on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 8,188 yards. Riggs, who joined the Redskins in a 1989 draft-day trade, led the team in rushing his first season with 875 yards. In his three seasons with Washington, he had 1,557 yards and 21 touchdowns. Before joining the Redskins, Riggs played for seven years with the Atlanta Falcons. He is the Falcons' all-time rushing leader with 6,631 yards.

For all the good Gerald Riggs has done at running back for the Atlanta Falcons--two-time Pro Bowl selection, three straight seasons of more than 1,000 yards rushing--it's very likely his memories will be punctuated by question marks--the ifs of the game. --What if Gerald Riggs had played for the Bears . . . --What if Gerald Riggs played for the Rams . . . --What if Gerald Riggs played for the Cowboys . . .

A couple of assistant coaches walked up to Gerald Riggs in the Washington Redskins' locker room during training camp. They wore concerned looks on their faces. "The guy wants your insurance number," one of them told Riggs. "Huh," Riggs said. "What guy?" "The guy who owns the truck," the coach said. "That wasn't my fault," Riggs said. "You caved in the whole side of his truck. He wants your insurance policy," the coach said. Riggs was getting worried.

The Washington Redskins waived short-yardage running back Gerald Riggs, who is 13th on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 8,188 yards. Riggs, who joined the Redskins in a 1989 draft-day trade, led the team in rushing his first season with 875 yards. In his three seasons with Washington, he had 1,557 yards and 21 touchdowns. Before joining the Redskins, Riggs played for seven years with the Atlanta Falcons. He is the Falcons' all-time rushing leader with 6,631 yards.

The leading rusher in the entire National Football League is: (a) John Riggins. (b) Gerald Riggs. (c) Bobby Riggs. (d) All of the above. (e) None of the above. Aw, there's no fooling you people. The answer, of course, is (b) Gerald Riggs, the increasingly better-known star of the Atlanta Falcons, who will play the Raiders Sunday at Atlanta. There'll be a side duel, the No. 1 NFL rusher, Riggs, against the No. 1 AFC rusher, Marcus Allen, who is 12 yards behind.

If the Raiders' Marcus Allen is going to win the NFL rushing title, it won't be easy. Gerald Riggs saw to that Sunday as he gained 158 yards in 39 carries in the Atlanta Falcons' 16-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints. That makes him the NFL's rushing leader with 1,719 yards, 83 more than Allen has going into tonight's game against the Rams at Anaheim Stadium. "To get right to the point, I'll definitely be watching what Allen does," Riggs said. "I wish him the best of luck.

Five games into the schedule, the Atlanta Falcons already are talking about next year, dwindling home attendance, moving to Jacksonville, Fla., and the only respectable birds in town--the Hawks. It's early October, yet still the Falcons must crane their necks skyward to find the competition in their division. For Atlanta (1-4), it has taken only 5 games to fall 3 games out of first place, which is about the way the Braves played it, right?

The Atlanta Falcons, on a stretch run to nowhere, get the Raiders today after having just tried the Chicago Bears and Rams. For a team with a 2-10 record, this is a dubious honor known in the sports pages as the chance to be a spoiler. For a team with an 8-4 record, as the Raiders are, it's a chance to let down. The Rams showed how it could be done here two weeks ago, donating the football until the Falcons felt ready to compete.

The Raiders met the enemy Sunday, and it was dressed in Black and Silver. It was them, all right, for the first half, but it was only the Falcons in the second. Form prevailed with a vengeance. The Raiders scored the first 21 points of the second half and cruised to a 34-24 victory behind Marcus Allen, who won his side-duel with Gerald Riggs, running for 156 yards to become the NFL's leading rusher.

The Chargers are still acknowledging the possibility of a three-team deal that could bring them Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien. "It's an idea," Steve Ortmayer said Thursday. "It's something we might consider. But I haven't talked to anybody about it today, and I don't expect anything to happen in the next 48 hours." Ortmayer is the Chargers' director of football operations. The genesis of the deal stemmed from talks between the Chargers, the Redskins and the Atlanta Falcons last month at the National Football League owners' meetings.

Five games into the schedule, the Atlanta Falcons already are talking about next year, dwindling home attendance, moving to Jacksonville, Fla., and the only respectable birds in town--the Hawks. It's early October, yet still the Falcons must crane their necks skyward to find the competition in their division. For Atlanta (1-4), it has taken only 5 games to fall 3 games out of first place, which is about the way the Braves played it, right?

For all the good Gerald Riggs has done at running back for the Atlanta Falcons--two-time Pro Bowl selection, three straight seasons of more than 1,000 yards rushing--it's very likely his memories will be punctuated by question marks--the ifs of the game. --What if Gerald Riggs had played for the Bears . . . --What if Gerald Riggs played for the Rams . . . --What if Gerald Riggs played for the Cowboys . . .

If the Raiders' Marcus Allen is going to win the NFL rushing title, it won't be easy. Gerald Riggs saw to that Sunday as he gained 158 yards in 39 carries in the Atlanta Falcons' 16-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints. That makes him the NFL's rushing leader with 1,719 yards, 83 more than Allen has going into tonight's game against the Rams at Anaheim Stadium. "To get right to the point, I'll definitely be watching what Allen does," Riggs said. "I wish him the best of luck.

The Raiders met the enemy Sunday, and it was dressed in Black and Silver. It was them, all right, for the first half, but it was only the Falcons in the second. Form prevailed with a vengeance. The Raiders scored the first 21 points of the second half and cruised to a 34-24 victory behind Marcus Allen, who won his side-duel with Gerald Riggs, running for 156 yards to become the NFL's leading rusher.

The Atlanta Falcons, on a stretch run to nowhere, get the Raiders today after having just tried the Chicago Bears and Rams. For a team with a 2-10 record, this is a dubious honor known in the sports pages as the chance to be a spoiler. For a team with an 8-4 record, as the Raiders are, it's a chance to let down. The Rams showed how it could be done here two weeks ago, donating the football until the Falcons felt ready to compete.

The Chargers are still acknowledging the possibility of a three-team deal that could bring them Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien. "It's an idea," Steve Ortmayer said Thursday. "It's something we might consider. But I haven't talked to anybody about it today, and I don't expect anything to happen in the next 48 hours." Ortmayer is the Chargers' director of football operations. The genesis of the deal stemmed from talks between the Chargers, the Redskins and the Atlanta Falcons last month at the National Football League owners' meetings.

The door is open, the flashing sign says "Exit" and Dan Henning can feel the draft, but the coach of the Atlanta Falcons chooses to ignore the inevitable. Dave Archer, the young quarterback, is just mopping up the mess the Falcons have made of another sorry season, but he's all bravado and boldness. Don't they understand their situation? Don't they know they're 1-9 and playing the Rams (8-2), Bears (10-0) and Raiders (6-4) the next three weeks? Doesn't the South know when to surrender?

The leading rusher in the entire National Football League is: (a) John Riggins. (b) Gerald Riggs. (c) Bobby Riggs. (d) All of the above. (e) None of the above. Aw, there's no fooling you people. The answer, of course, is (b) Gerald Riggs, the increasingly better-known star of the Atlanta Falcons, who will play the Raiders Sunday at Atlanta. There'll be a side duel, the No. 1 NFL rusher, Riggs, against the No. 1 AFC rusher, Marcus Allen, who is 12 yards behind.

Anyone notice that the Rams haven't won a game since quarterback Dieter Brock had a kidney stone removed? If you don't like that theory, maybe it's Halley's Comet. The Rams had no better explanation for Sunday's 30-14 loss to the Falcons, who hadn't beaten anyone but another sorry team, the New Orleans Saints, this season. They would prefer to believe they're bedeviled by strange forces, which is easier than facing the possibility that they aren't as good as a 7-0 start led people to believe.