The Hogs (American football)
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The Hogs was the nickname for the offensive line of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League during the 1980s and early 1990s. Renowned for their ability to control the line of scrimmage, the Hogs helped the Redskins win three Super Bowl championships (XVII, XXII and XXVI) under head coach Joe Gibbs.
[edit] History
"The Hogs" was a term coined by then-offensive line coach Joe Bugel during training camp in 1982, when he told his linemen, "Okay, you hogs, let's get running down there."[1]
Center Jeff Bostic, guards Russ Grimm and Mark May, tackles Joe Jacoby and George Starke, and tight ends Don Warren and Rick Walker comprised the original Hogs. Aside from Starke, who left the team in 1984 shortly after the team won their first championship in Super Bowl XVII, most of the Hogs would stay together until the early 1990s.
The line averaged 273 pounds in 1982 [2] — not including the massive 6' 7" Jacoby, who joined the team later weighing in at around 300 pounds.
Early on, the Hogs provided protection for running back John Riggins and quarterback Joe Theismann. Riggins was accepted as an "Honorary Hog". Quarterback Joe Theismann threw a key block one day and begged to be named an "honorary piglet. Theismann never had to hit a blocking dummy every day, which is why he never made "piglet." Besides, Bugel said: "We don't want a quarterback in the gang." "No quarterbacks," Starke said at the time. Theismann has said in numerous occasions that after that block he did make it into "The Hogs" as a "Piglet."[3]
Their successes inspired a group of male fans who came to be known as "The Hogettes" [4], who attended games dressed in "old lady" drag (dresses, wide-brimmed hats) and wearing plastic pig snouts. The tradition is still practiced by some Redskins fans today.
Not long after losing Super Bowl XVIII 38-9 to the Los Angeles Raiders in 1984, Starke and Riggins retired. Theismann's career ended in 1985 after suffering a gruesome injury while being tackled by New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. But the Redskins would be joined by a new class of Hogs, including 1985 draft pick Raleigh McKenzie, a guard out of the University of Tennessee, and 1989 draft pick Mark Schlereth, a guard from the University of Idaho, along with Pro Bowl tackle Jim Lachey, who was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Raiders (coincidentally, the general manager who brought Lachey to Washington, Bobby Beathard, would depart following the 1988 season to take over the GM position with the San Diego Chargers, Lachey's original team). With their help, the Redskins would win two more Super Bowls - XXII in 1988 and XXVI in 1992.
[edit] See also
[edit] Links
- http://espn.go.com/page2/wash/s/simmons/020314.html - Article by columnist Bill Simmons of ESPN about the close-knit Hogs.
- http://www.thehogs.net/The_Hogs/history.php - A history of the Hogs.
- http://www.thehogs.net/content/story.php?id=81 - 1982 Washington Post article about the Hogs.
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