Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Th ...
. He played seven seasons in the
NFL with the
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...
. As college football's only two-time
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...
winner, he is considered one of the greatest college football players of all time. Griffin won four
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
titles with the
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...
and was the first player ever to start in four
Rose Bowls.
High school career
Griffin rushed for 1,787 yards and scored over 170 points in 11 games, including 29 touchdowns, as a senior fullback at
Eastmoor High School (now Eastmoor Academy) in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
. That year, he led Eastmoor to the Columbus City League championship, rushing for 267 yards on 31 carries in the title game against
Linden-McKinley High School. In his junior year, Griffin also rushed for over 1,000 yards.
In 1996, Griffin was inducted into the High School Hall of Fame. Eastmoor Academy renamed their playing field "Archie Griffin Field" in his honor.
College career
Griffin played for the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...
Buckeyes from 1972-75. When he won a starting position his freshman year, many sophomores were disappointed because Griffin took their spot. Former Ohio State
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...
Woody Hayes
Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...
said of Griffin, "He's a better young man than he is a football player, and he's the best football player I've ever seen."
In 1972, Griffin was a
T-formation halfback, and from 1973 through 1975, he was the team's
I-formation tailback. He led the Buckeyes in rushing as a freshman with 867 yards, but his numbers exploded the following year with the team's conversion to the I-formation. He rushed for 1,428 yards in the regular season as a sophomore, 1,620 as a junior, 1,357 as a senior. Griffin was the only back to lead the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
in rushing for three straight years until
Jonathan Taylor did so from 2017-2019. Overall, Griffin rushed for 5,589 yards on 924 carries in his four seasons with the Buckeyes (1972–1975), then an NCAA record. He had 6,559 all-purpose yards and scored 26 touchdowns. In their four seasons with Griffin as their starting running back, the Buckeyes posted a record of 40-5-1. Griffin is one of only two players in collegiate football history to start four
Rose Bowl game
The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Ro ...
s, the other being
Brian Cushing.
Griffin introduced himself to OSU fans as a freshman by setting a school single-game rushing record of 239 yards in the second game of the 1972 season, against
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
, breaking a team record that had stood for 27 seasons. His only carry in his first game had resulted in a fumble. He broke his own record as a sophomore with 246 rushing yards in a game against the
Iowa Hawkeyes. Over his four-year collegiate career, Griffin rushed for at least 100 yards in 34 games, including an NCAA record 31 consecutive games.
Career rushing statistics
Honors
Griffin finished fifth in the Heisman vote in his sophomore year and won the award as a junior and senior. He is the only NCAA football player to date to win the award twice. In addition to his two Heisman Trophies, Griffin won many other college awards. He is one of four players to win the
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the '' Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinoi ...
, the Big 10's Most Valuable Player Award, twice (1973–1974).
United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 2 ...
named him Player of the Year twice (1974–1975), the
Walter Camp Foundation named him top player twice (1974–1975), he won the
Maxwell Award (1975), and Sporting News named him Man of the Year (1975).
The
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...
enshrined Griffin in 1986. Ohio State enshrined him in their own
Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1981 and officially retired his number, 45, in 1999. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2007, he was ranked No. 21 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list. On January 1, 2014, Griffin was named the All-Century Player of the
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Ro ...
during the celebration of the
100th Rose Bowl Game and participated in the
Rose Parade
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...
.
Professional football career
In the
1976 NFL Draft
The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York.
The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks ...
, he was the first-round draft choice of the
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...
, selected as the 24th overall pick in the draft. Griffin played 7 seasons in the NFL, all with the Bengals (1976–1982). He was joined in the backfield by his college fullback teammate
Pete Johnson, who was drafted by the Bengals in 1977, and his brother, Ohio State defensive back
Ray Griffin, who was drafted by the team in 1978. During his 7 NFL seasons, he rushed for 2808 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 192 passes for 1607 yards and 6 touchdowns. Griffin played in
Super Bowl XVI
Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
with the Bengals after the 1981 season.
After his career with the Bengals ended, Griffin played briefly with the
Jacksonville Bulls of the
United States Football League
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
.
Career after football
Griffin is the former President and CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association. He is also the current spokesman for the
Wendy's High School Heisman award program. Formerly, he served as Assistant Athletic Director for The Ohio State University and still speaks to the football team before every game.
Griffin also serves on the Board of Directors for Motorists Insurance which has offices in downtown Columbus,
Abercrombie and Fitch, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, based in Irving, Texas.
Along with former
NBA basketball star
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...
, Griffin was one of the investors in Mandalay Baseball Properties LLC which owned the
Dayton Dragons
The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. I ...
, a class single-A minor league baseball team affiliated with
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
's
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
, prior to the sale of the team in 2014 to Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC.
Family
Griffin is a son of Margaret and James Griffin. He has six brothers and a sister. His brothers are named Jimmy, Larry, Daryle, Duncan,
Raymond (former NFL cornerback who for a time was a teammate with the Bengals), and
Keith
Keith may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Keith (surname)
* Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949)
* Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...
who also played in the NFL. His sister is named Crystal.
As of 2020, Griffin's son Andre is entering his first year as an assistant coach at Ohio Northern University and previously was the Head Coach at
Lima Senior High School. Griffin's son Adam played as a defensive back for the Ohio State football team for three seasons until a shoulder injury ended his football career.
Griffin also has three grandsons: Kamron, Diante, and Adrien.
See also
*
List of NCAA major college football yearly rushing leaders
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Archie
1954 births
Living people
All-American college football players
American football running backs
Cincinnati Bengals players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Heisman Trophy winners
Jacksonville Bulls players
Maxwell Award winners
Ohio State Buckeyes football players
Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio