• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

RB Archie Griffin (All B1G, All-American, 1974 & 1975 Heisman Trophy Winner, CFB HOF)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Dispatch

Bob Hunter commentary: Relax, Tebow can't devalue what Archie achieved first

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 3:07 AM
By Bob Hunter


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
1211griffin2200.jpg
FILE PHOTO
In addition to winning the Heisman Trophy twice, Archie Griffin is Ohio State's all-time career rushing leader with 5,589 yards.




When Tim Tebow was announced as the Heisman Trophy winner Saturday night, the Columbus air seemed to wrinkle and the oxygen thinned. I quickly surmised what had just occurred.
Chest seizures swept across the central Ohio landscape like a December snowstorm. There was a lot of deep breathing going on. It wasn't so much because Tebow is the Florida quarterback or that he helped administer that painful 41-14 shot to Ohio State in the national championship game last January -- OK, none of that helped -- but it was because he is, gasp, a sophomore. As a sophomore quarterback on a good team that should be even better next year, he will have a chance to win another Heisman and maybe two.



Cont...
 
Upvote 0
Sports Illustrated article on Archie from 1975...

Good Man in The Long Run

Archie Griffin has already zigzagged 3,820 yards to a Heisman Trophy and twice has been All-America, so that now, as he begins his final season at Ohio State, all he has left to prove is that he is the best player in his family.

Sure, like everyone says, Archie Griffin can run through the side of a mountain, leap the whole state of Michigan in a single bound and all that. And yeah, we know, he's God's gift to impressionable youth, the most wholesome influence since Pat Boone. But C'mon now, surely Archie has a few faults. Like maybe just once he uttered a discouraging word or something? Or perhaps he doesn't know all four stanzas of The Star-Spangled Banner?

The question stuns Loretta Laffitte, an Ohio State coed and Griffin's girl friend of long standing. She draws back as if the flames of heresy were licking about her. She bites her thumb. She knits her brow. She starts to speak, stops, shakes her head and ponders some more.

Archie Griffin, myth and man. The subject stirs strong reactions in and about Columbus, Ohio, ranking right up there on the emotional scale with patriotism and pork-belly futures. At the one extreme there is the perplexed silence of Loretta Laffitte. At the other the torrential outpourings of Woody Hayes, a man who is never at a loss for an answer. Indeed, he does not even need a question.

"Archie Griffin is the greatest back I've ever seen or coached," Hayes says, limbering up. "He's also the most popular player we've ever had, by far. In fact, we value Archie's attitude more than his football ability. Which is saying something, because he can do everything. He's a great blocker, a great faker and a great broken-field runner, one of those rare backs who can run over you and around you. It's like Rommel's wide-front attack or Sherman maneuvering through Georgia. No one ever knew which way they were going, either, and from there on it was strictly option football.

"Archie has promised me that he's going to law school. And then I want him to go into politics. He's a middle-of-the-roader, and that's what our country needs today. Archie doesn't say much. He leads by example. When we go running out at halftime I keep stumbling over him because he's always down there on his knees, praying. Oh, my God, he's so honorable!"

Hayes rolls on and on like the almighty Oletangy. Following the thought flow is tricky, but in this case the drift seems to be that 1) Griffin is a sterling football player, which everyone knows, and 2) he wears a halo under his helmet, which no one believes because coaches are always saying things like that to inspire another first down.

Nevertheless, indications are that Griffin's finest achievement, even more impressive perhaps than winning the Heisman Trophy last year, may be that he comes close to living up to Woody's beatific vision, that he actually may be some kind of seraph in scarlet and gray....

...contd...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Link

Archie Griffin visits Hawks Nest for inaugural golf outing



​
Photo By Chris Kick
Two-time Heisman Trophy winner and former Ohio State University football star Archie Griffin (center) signs his autograph for Ron Vlcekcq. With them is Gene Smith (right), OSU?s athletic director.



By CHRIS KICK
Staff Writer
WOOSTER -- With its fast-paced plays, aggressive physical contact and huge crowds of fans, the game of football is decidedly different than the game of golf.
Archie Griffin, one of Ohio State University's best football players of all time, would most likely agree. On Monday, Griffin explained the differences between the two sports and also the appreciation he gets from both, during a golf outing at Hawks Nest, a $4.6 million course given by Earl and Betty Hawkins to the university in 2007.
Griffin, who is president and chief executive officer of the Ohio State University Alumni Association, said he began golfing when he was about 32 and blames his mediocre performance on the fact he played football, a totally different sport.
"In football it's usually totally opposite of what they teach you in golf. In golf they tell you to keep your arm straight, you keep your arm straight in football you're going to get your arm broken.
"In golf, you got to keep your head down, you keep your head down in football you're going to end up with a broken neck. So, that's my excuse for being a bad golfer."
While the two sports are different, they're also both enjoyable, he explained, and Hawk's Nest ATI is a beautiful facility.
"This is a golf course that we all can be extremely proud of," Griffin said.
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
ESPN's Ivan Maisel: "Players and Coaches that transcended the game"

Archie named one of College Football players that transcended the game.

ESPN - The players and coaches that transcend the game - College Football

Archie Griffin
Archie Griffin's stature as a college football player has grown in the 33 years since his senior season at Ohio State, if only because he is still the only man ever to win two Heisman Trophies. The wonder, however, is that he didn't win three. As a sophomore in 1973, Griffin rushed for 1,577 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry -- a full yard more than the Heisman winner, John Cappelletti of Penn State. Griffin finished fifth. His career didn't start that way. As a freshman, he fumbled his first carry and got yanked out of the huddle for the rest of the game. A week later, he rushed for a school-record 239 yards. Griffin finished his career with 5,177 yards, then an NCAA record. In his four seasons, the Buckeyes went 40-5-1 (.880), and not one of those losses came to Michigan. Not only that, Griffin played in four Rose Bowls, not to mention those two Heismans
 
Upvote 0
official.site

Big Ten Network to air "Big Ten Legends: Archie Griffin"
More than 30 years after his historic playing career at Ohio State, Archie Griffin remains the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy.

At 9 PM ET on Wednesday, July 16, the Big Ten Network will debut Big Ten Legends: Archie Griffin. During the 30-minute show, host Dave Revsine talks with the college football icon about his memories of winning the Heisman Trophy, his unlikely move from the line to the backfield, the other Big Ten school he nearly attended and his thoughts on Buckeye coaches from Woody Hayes to Jim Tressel.

Cont'd ...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
OSU legend kicks off new show
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008

The name of the Big Ten Network's newest show is Big Ten Legends, which looks back at great athletes in the conference. It debuts at 9 p.m. Wednesday on the cable channel.

With a title like that it's only fitting that the program turn to one of the Big Ten's greatest living legends, former Ohio State running back and the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, Archie Griffin, to begin the series.

Griffin can joke when reminded of what the show's title is: ''Legends, huh? It's just another way of saying 'old,' '' he said with a chuckle.

Winner of the Heisman in 1974 and 1975, Griffin has been back at OSU for almost 25 years. He began his career in the athletic department, but five years ago moved to the alumni association, where he is president.

Griffin finished his career with 5,589 rushing yards, 26 touchdowns and a 6.1-yards per-carry average. While he cemented his legacy on the football field, that's not what he remembered most about attending Ohio State University before the ''the'' figured so prominently in the title.

''I remember the college days . . . the fun you have when you're a student running around without a lot of great worries,'' he said in a phone conversation Monday. ''You thought you had big worries, but once you get out in the real life, you realize that those were things that you didn't have to worry about at all.''
Click to expand...

Ohio.com - OSU legend kicks off new show
 
Upvote 0
Griffin on Tebow repeating: 'He's got as good a chance as anybody' | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY

Griffin on Tebow repeating: 'He's got as good a chance as anybody'
BY DAVID JONES ? FLORIDA TODAY ? July 18, 2008

In the summer of 1975, Archie Griffin was preparing for his senior season at Ohio State with the chance to win his second Heisman Trophy in a row. Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes had grown tired of all the attention his star tailback was getting. So he summoned him.

Hayes growled at Griffin to start thinking more about football and forget about all the other obligations, that making so many appearances after winning the Heisman was making him "soft."

Cont'd ...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Good Article.

Archie is a class act. Glad my alumni funds are in good hands.

I wouldn't worry about Tim winning another heisman Arch. According to my cocktail napkin math his chances are slim.

With 119 D1 teams, each carrying a roster of 105 players, the chances of winning ONE Heisman is one in 12,495 (105 X 119 = 12,495).

OK, not that too bad.. But the chances of winning TWO are one in 156,125,025 (105 X 119 = 12,495^2 = 156,125,025).

This assums that all players have an equal chance of winning the hard ware, and I have noticed an unspoken bias against defensive players in recent voting. But you never know. Who is to say UConn's back-up punter won't run for 2k in fake punts?
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top