80 Greatest Redskins
In June 2002, to honor the Redskins' 70th anniversary, a blue-ribbon panel selected the 70 Greatest Redskins, a prestigious group of players and coaches who were significant on-field contributors to the team's five world championships and magnificent history.
The 70 Greats were honored in a weekend of festivities, Oct. 25-27, 2002, culminating in a special halftime ceremony during the Redskins' 26-21 win over the Indianapolis Colts in a nationally televised Sunday night game.
In April 2012, the Redskins announced that 10 Redskins would be added to the prestigious list, to create the 80 Greatest Redskins of All Time. For the first time in franchise history, the fans were called upon to choose the members, in an unprecedented '10 for 80' online vote. Combined with the vote of a blue-ribbon Redskins panel, the next 10 selections were added to the group.
Spanning the entire history of the team since its founding in Boston in 1932, the 80 Greatest Redskins encompassed five coaches, a general manager and 74 players. They present a tableau of accomplishments from the franchise's very beginnings, represented by Turk Edwards and Cliff Battles from the Redskins' 1932 inaugural roster, through the 2010 season, represented by Clinton Portis and Chris Samuels.
Head coaches Ray Flaherty, George Allen and Joe Gibbs were selected because of their outstanding record of coaching achievements. Flaherty led the 1937 and 1942 teams to NFL championships, Allen led the 1972 team to the Super Bowl, and Gibbs led the team to four Super Bowls, winning three times in a 10-year span from 1982-91.
The Most Valuable Players of Gibbs' three Super Bowl championships also appear on the list: quarterbacks Doug Williams (1987) and Mark Rypien (1991) and running back John Riggins (1982). Quarterback Joe Theismann, who commanded the team the year Riggins won his MVP award, is also on the list.
There are 104 Super Bowl appearances among the 80 Greats, with 52 going once and 48 playing in more than one. Thirty-two members of the squad possess one Super Bowl ring; 29 have more than one. For the years prior to the Super Bowl, members of the 70 made 18 World Championship appearances; six participated in the Redskins' World Championship victories in 1937 and 1942.
Every Redskin in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is represented among the 70 Greats and every player and coach in the team's Ring of Fame at FedExField is on the list as well. Longevity is represented in Green, Sammy Baugh, Monte Coleman, Jeff Bostic, Dave Butz, Chris Hanburger, Len Hauss, Art Monk, Charley Taylor and Don Warren, all of whom amassed a cumulative 150 Redskin years.
There are 46 Greats who primarily played offense, 26 who primarily played defense and three special teams representatives in kicker Mark Moseley, punter Mike Bragg and return specialist Mike Nelms.
The first blue-ribbon panel consisted of former CNN news anchor Bernard Shaw; Redskins alum Bobby Mitchell; U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, son of Redskins' Hall of Fame coach George Allen; Washington broadcasting legend Ken Beatrice; Noel Epstein, editor of several Washington Post histories of the team; former Under Secretary of State Joseph J. Sisco; Phil Hochberg, who retired in 2001 after 38 years as team stadium announcer; Pro Football Hall of Fame historian Joe Horrigan; WRC-TV sports director George Michael; WTEM sports director Andy Pollin; NFL Films president Steve Sabol; and WRC-TV news anchor Jim Vance.
The second blue-ribbon panel consisted of three members of the 70 Greatest, one from offense, defense and special teams: Joe Theismann, Charles Mann and Mark Moseley. Redskins Historian Mike Richman was also a participant in the panel, which was again led by former CNN news anchor Bernard Shaw.
80 Greatest Redskins
