The Toughest Players in American Football History

John Riggins ran like a freight train with no brakes—low pad level, relentless legs, and zero fear of contact. He thrived on collisions, wearing down defenders who dreaded tackling him by the fourth quarter. Riggins’s toughness came from sheer stubbornness: he simply refused to stop moving forward, no matter the hit.

In Super Bowl XVII, at age 33, he carried the ball 38 times for 166 yards, including a legendary 43-yard game-winning touchdown on fourth down. One man hit him, then another—and he just kept going. That run became the eternal symbol of Riggins’s toughness.