Archie Griffin
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No. 45 | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | August 21, 1954||||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Eastmoor (Columbus, Ohio) | ||||||||||||
College: | Ohio State (1972–1975) | ||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1976 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is an American former
Early life
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. 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.[2]
In 1996, Griffin was inducted into the High School Hall of Fame, with Eastmoor Academy renaming their playing field "Archie Griffin Field" in his honor.[3]
College career
Griffin played for the Ohio State University 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 Woody Hayes 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."[4]
In 1972, Griffin was a
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
College statistics
Season | Team | Rushing | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
1972 | Ohio State | 159 | 867 | 5.5 | 3 |
1973 | Ohio State | 247 | 1,577 | 6.4 | 7 |
1974 | Ohio State | 256 | 1,695 | 6.6 | 12 |
1975 | Ohio State | 262 | 1,450 | 5.5 | 4 |
Career | 924 | 5,589 | 6.0 | 26 |
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.
The
In 2013, Griffin was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.[8] In 2020, he was ranked No. 4 on ESPN's list of the Top 150 players in college football history.[9]
Professional career
In the
Following the end of his Bengals career, Griffin played very briefly with the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League (USFL). He played in one game and had ten carries for 11 yards.[10]
NFL career statistics
Legend | |
---|---|
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
1976 | CIN | 14 | 14 | 138 | 625 | 4.5 | 77 | 3 | 16 | 138 | 8.6 | 23 | 0 |
1977 | CIN | 12 | 11 | 137 | 549 | 4.0 | 31 | 0 | 28 | 240 | 8.6 | 24 | 0 |
1978 | CIN | 16 | 8 | 132 | 484 | 3.7 | 30 | 0 | 35 | 284 | 8.1 | 27 | 3 |
1979 | CIN | 16 | 15 | 140 | 688 | 4.9 | 63 | 0 | 43 | 417 | 9.7 | 52 | 2 |
1980 | CIN | 15 | 7 | 85 | 260 | 3.1 | 14 | 0 | 28 | 196 | 7.0 | 19 | 0 |
1981 | CIN | 16 | 2 | 47 | 163 | 3.5 | 23 | 3 | 20 | 160 | 8.0 | 17 | 1 |
1982 | CIN | 9 | 0 | 12 | 39 | 3.3 | 10 | 1 | 22 | 172 | 7.8 | 22 | 0 |
98 | 57 | 691 | 2,808 | 4.1 | 77 | 7 | 192 | 1,607 | 8.4 | 52 | 6 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
1981 | CIN | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
1982 | CIN | 1 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 6 | 0 |
4 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 5.0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 6 | 0 |
Post-football career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Archie_Griffin_2015.jpg/170px-Archie_Griffin_2015.jpg)
Griffin is the former president and CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association. He is also the current[
Griffin also serves on the board of directors for Motorists Insurance, which has offices in downtown Columbus,
Along with former National Basketball Association basketball player Magic Johnson, Griffin was one of the investors in Mandalay Baseball Properties LLC, which owned the Dayton Dragons, a single-A Minor League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, prior to the sale of the team in 2014 to Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC.[11][12][13]
Family
Griffin is a son of Margaret and James Griffin. He has six brothers and a sister. His brothers include Raymond, a former NFL cornerback and a teammate with the Bengals, and Keith who also played in the NFL.
In 2024, Griffin's son Andre became the head football coach at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School[14] and was previously an assistant football coach at Ohio Northern University. Another son, Adam, played as a defensive back for Ohio State for three seasons until a shoulder injury ended his playing career.[15] Griffin also has three grandsons.
See also
References
- ^ "The 150 greatest players in college football's 150-year history". January 14, 2020.
- ^ "National High School Hall of Fame: Archie Griffin". Archived from the original on September 6, 2006.
- ^ "Legends of HS Football: Archie Griffin". Archived from the original on March 20, 2006.
- Toledo Blade. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ "Archie Griffin: Associate Athletic Director". CSTV.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2006.
- ^ Maise, Ivan (December 10, 2014). "Archie Griffin still Heisman standard". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
- ^ "Past Silver Football winners". Chicago Tribune. December 8, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- ^ Dr. Robert Goldman (March 12, 2013). "2013 International Sports Hall of Fame Inductees". www.sportshof.org. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ "The 150 greatest players in college football's 150-year history". ESPN.
- ^ "Archie Griffin". USFL.
- ^ "Single-A team celebrates 815th sellout". ESPN. ESPN.com. July 24, 2011.
- ^ "Report: Deal to sell Dayton Dragons reached". daytondailynews.com.
- ^ "Palisades Arcadia to acquire Dayton Dragons". milb.com.
- ^ "ndclathletics.org NDCL Announces Andre Griffin as New Football Head Coach".
- ^ "OhioStateBuckeyes.com Buckeye Biography - #11 Adam Griffin". Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Archie Griffin at the College Football Hall of Fame
- Archie Griffin (1974) at Heisman.com
- Archie Griffin (1975) at Heisman.com
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference