'Bugel Hogs': The Glory Years Of The Washington Franchise

By Peter Mann

In the heady days of the seventies and eighties the Washington Redskins was known just as much for their talented, on-field units, as they were for collecting Super Bowl Rings.

With those ‘Skins, there’s been as many units as there’s been rings, the last of those being known as ‘The Hogs;’ whilst prior to Joe Bugel’s offensive all-stars there was also ‘The Over-the-Hill Gang’ of the seventies, and ‘The Fun Bunch’ from the early eighties.

It was to be ‘The Hogs’ that would light up playing fields across the USA, and, in doing so, helped Washington’s finest of its time, to those three Super Bowl rings, in 1982, 1987, and 1991, whilst also being runners-up in 1983.

It would be in the 1970s though when some young ‘Hogs’ officially began arriving at the RFK Stadium, the ‘Skins welcoming a trio of players in George Starke (OT, 1973), Fred Dean (OT/G, 1978), and Don Warren (TE, 1979) but the arrival of Bugel, that’s when things really changed, and the volume was turned up.

JOel Bugel: 'Boss Hog'

Himself nicknamed ‘Boss Hog,’ for obvious reasons, Bugel was the Redskins Head Coach, Joe Gibbs’ OL Coach throughout the eighties; already experienced when he himself arrived in Washington, Bugel never played in the NFL, but his coaching nous spoke volumes.

An All-Conference guard and kicker with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Bugel turned to coaching upon leaving High School, first with the Hilltoppers, then at the Navy Midshipmen, Iowa State Cyclones, and Ohio State Buckeyes, prior to spells at Detroit Lions and Houston Oilers, as either Defensive Line, Defensive Tackle, or Offensive Line Coach.

That was between 1964 and 1981, then heading to the Redskins as first their OC, before moving up to Assistant HC in ’83; it would be during this period that he developed, and ultimately ran with, ‘The Hogs,’ with those ‘young hogs’ of Starke and Dean, they were now, very much, experienced veterans.

In addition to those, and around the time of Bugel’s arrival, Gibbs and the Redskins also brought in that of Jeff Bostic (C, 1980) and Rick Walker (TE, 1980), and Russ Grimm (G, 1981), Joe Jacoby (OT, 1981), and Mark May (G, 1981), the majority of whom pitched up tent in the RFK for a number of seasons.

Bostic (13yrs), Grimm (10yrs), Jacoby (12yrs), and Warren (13yrs) all claimed a hat-trick of rings but somehow, only Grimm has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, being inducted back in 2010.  

 

In an article on nfl.com they looked at, following Robert Griffin IIIs record-breaking stats during the 2015 season, nine of the best stats in Redskins’ history; of those it reminds that then-HC, Joe Gibbs, won his three Super Bowls with the Washington franchise, with three different QBs.

The Redskins would be led by Joe Theismann (SB XVII), Doug Williams (SB XXII), and Mark Rypien (SB XXXVI), the latter two of which were named MVP, and, despite other accolades, none have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The segment on ‘The Hogs’ opens with when the unit came to fruition, saying; “The 1982 Redskins training camp at Dickinson College (in nearby Pennsylvania) marked the beginning of one of the greatest offensive line groups in NFL history, ‘The Hogs,’

“The original group included Russ Grimm and Mark May at guard, Joe Jacoby and George Starke at tackle, center Jeff Bostic, and Don Warren and Rick Walker at tight end.” nfl.com, ‘Mind-blowing stats for Redskins’

1982: The First Championship

Only one loss was suffered as the Redskins surged to the 1982 Championship, a season that would ultimately be affected by, and remembered for, the NFL Players Association Players’ strike, which last from late-September, through to mid-November, the loss came in the eventual week five clash against the visiting Dallas Cowboys (24-10, 5 December).  

Winning four either side, the regular season ended with the Redskins topping the NFC East with an 8-1 record, before entering a play-off run that would see them, under the glamour provided by ‘The Fun Bunch’ (Art Monk, Virgil Seay, Charlie Brown, Alvin Garrett, Rick Walker and Don Warren).

Detroit Lions were brushed aside, 31-7, in the Wild Card game, and Minnesota Vikings beaten 21-7 in the Divisional Playoffs clash; a busy January 1983 continued when the NFC Championship was won with a 31-17 success against Dallas Cowboys, before Gibb’s Redskins rolled into the Pasadena Rose Bowl and put Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins to the sword.

Super Bowl XVII proved to be the catalyst of what was to come for the ‘Skins, over the next decade or so and, despite losing the first quarter, and going in at the halftime 17-10 down, the second half needed a change for ‘The Fun Bunch.’

Only three points were added in the third quarter, the Redskins finding themselves still holding a deficit, 17-13, heading into that final quarter, before the game turned on a sixpence and the Redskins pulled fourteen points out of seemingly nowhere, to claim a 27-17 success.  

On the Bleacher Report website, an article looks back at the start of that successful, Super Bowl era, the 1982 title when the Miami Dolphins were beaten at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, California; this said as being the one “that many longtime Redskins fans probably appreciate the most.”

QB Joe Theismann, RB John Riggins, and ‘The Hogs’ dominated the offense, alongside a somewhat stingy defense that campaign and, after Theismann changed the trajectory of the game in the third quarter, it was a case of; “The rest of the game belonged to Riggins and the Hogs.

“On a 4th-and-1 from the Dolphins’ 43-yard line with just under five minutes to go, the Redskins called their “70-chip” play, and the rest was history.

“Riggins ran behind the left side of the line and into Dolphins’ cornerback Don McNeal. McNeal hit Riggins high, but he just bounced off the powerful running back.

“McNeal slid down toward the ground, grabbing Riggins’ jersey, but Riggins shook the cornerback off and rumbled down the sideline for the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history at the time. The Hogs mobbed Riggins in the end zone.

“The play was immortalized in a photo that became a poster that many Redskins fans had on their walls through the 1980s and beyond.” Bleacher Report; ‘Washington Redskins Super Bowl Memories: Theismann, Riggins and the Hogs’ by Mike Frandsen, 1 February 2015

In 2007, the run applied by FB John Riggins, which turned this Super Bowl on its head, was voted by Redskins fans at their Greatest Moment.

“During DC’s march to the Super Bowl in the ’82 playoffs, Riggins set NFL records for most rushing attempts (136) and yards (610) in a single postseason (admittedly, a unique, extra-long postseason tournament that came about because of the strike=shortened regular season)….

“The mammoth performance was Riggins’ sixth career 100-yard postseason rushing game.” TD: The 50 Greatest Super Bowl Players of All-Time (SLAM Presents Special Collectors Issue, 2013)

Returning To The Championship Game 12 Months Later

Twelve months later and Gibbs et al were returning to America’s showpiece game; having finished the previous campaign with eight successive victories, they began the following one with, the narrowest of losses.

Having defeated the Cowboys in the ’82 Championship Game, eight months later that loss was avenged, 31-30, at the Redskins’ RFK Stadium, before five straight victories were notched up, including a 37-35 victory over Los Angeles Raiders, again in Washington, in early October.

The Raiders though, they’d become key to the Redskins’ season; however, in the regular season, and after defeat to Green Bay Packers in mid-October, again by a point, 48-47 at Lambeau Field, by which time they were 5-2.

Two months later, mid-December and the end of the regular season, the Redskins had pushed their record from the afore-mentioned 5-2, to an emphatic, 14-2, winning nine straight, of which two were against New York Giants, 33-17 at Giants Stadium, and a season finale, 31-22 at RFK.

There would also be a 45-7 thrashing of St Louis Cardinals, and a 42-20 win away to Los Angeles Rams; their 14-2 record saw them claim the NFC East, and move on to a Divisional playoff against the Rams, inflicting a much heavier defeat, this time 51-7 (raking up 38pts in the first half), in Washington.

The ‘83 NFC Championship Game would see a narrow, 24-21 success, over the visiting San Francisco 49ers, despite a dreadful final quarter that nearly saw them blow it (conceded 21pts), victory though sent them to Tampa Stadium, in Florida, and a date with Tom Flores’ Raiders.

Having won the championship twice already, in 1976 and 1980, this was to be the season in which the Raiders became the second NFL franchise, behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, to win three Super Bowls.

They’d claimed the AFC West with a strong, 12-4 record, before brushing aside the Steelers (38-10) and Seattle Seahawks (30-14) in the playoffs, and then, ultimately, brushing aside the Redskins, 38-9, in a slightly one-sided game, notching fourteen points in both the second and third quarters, Marcus Allen in inspired form that day.

Talking about his mindset of protecting his family on the football field, and alluding to the old school nature of America’s Game, Tennessee Titans’ OL, Sam Pendleton, recently name-dropped ‘The Hogs’ in an interview, saying: “My dad was a big, old school football guy; the Hogs, Redskins, I really admire the Hogs you know…..

“I watched a lot of their tape… how they carried themselves. They kind of had some moxy about themselves, about everything they did together….

“I kind of want to follow in their footsteps, to carry on that, and bring some old school football back.” USA Today Sports, ‘Why Tennessee OL Sam Pendleton admired ‘Hogs’ of Washington Redskins’ 13 March 2025

FoUR YEARS LATER: REDSKINS CLAIM NUMBER TWO

Despite winning the NFC East in ’84, it would be a couple of years before the Redskins, and with it the now solidifying ‘Hogs’ won another Super Bowl championship, but, in 1987, they were at it again.

Another NFC East was claimed with an 11-4 regular season record, even if there was another, smaller strike, to contend with, and an erratic, on-field campaign, their longest winning streak coming between 4 October and 1 November, five matches, their biggest successes coming on the road at the Giants (38-12) and Buffalo Bills (27-7).

Despite defeat in Miami, 23-21 against the Dolphins five days before Christmas, an OT classic on Boxing Day saw the Redskins finish the regular season in style, winning 27-24 at Minnesota Vikings.

Victories in the post-season would come against Chicago Bears, 2-1-17, in the Divisional Playoffs, at Soldier Field, before the Vikings were edged 17-10 at RFK in the NFC Championship, ahead of meeting Denver Broncos, at the Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, on 31 January, in Super Bowl XXII.

It would be a game that, looking back at the scoring, had a kind of weird spin to it; Broncos put up ten unanswered points in the first quarter, the Redskins smashed out a record-breaking. thirty-five unanswered in the second, whilst in the third, there was zero scoring registering.

Leading 35-10 going into the final quarter the new champions added seven more to wrap up a 42-10 victory on a day which saw Redskins quarterback, Doug Williams, write his won pieces of the sports’ history.

It was however, to be a Super Bowl that, on the occasion of SB50, Justin Peters, Slate Magazine, having watched all previous championship games, said that this was; “The most significant Super Bowl ever played.

“The most unlikely comeback from the most unlikely quarterback, Doug Williams, who led his team to score 35 points in the second quarter: a single-quarter Super Bowl scoring record that still stands!”

A Glorious Third

Another couple of years would elapse before Gibbs. Bugel et al found themselves back in the Championship Game; the season before however, they slipped into the post-season despite a third-placed finish in the NFC East, behind the Giants, and level on 10-6 with Philadelphia Eagles.

The Redskins would then see off the Eagles in the Wild Card round, winning 20-6 at Veterans Stadium, before coming up short in the Divisional Playoffs, away at Candlestick Park, falling to a 28-10 loss to hosts, San Francisco 49ers.

Not to be easily pushed aside, the Redskins were at it again the following season and took it all the way to the big one, overall winning seventeen of their nineteen outings, finishing the regular season with the NFC East, and a 14-2 record.

It would however be a season that saw ‘The Hogs’ start wrapping things up, the end of an era, but they all started the ’91 season in style, winning their first eleven of which there was three shut-out successes that included a 45-0 opening day drubbing of Detroit Lions on 1 September, and, two-and-a-half months later, an equally impressive 56-17 victory over Arizona Cardinals, both of which came at the RFK.

Two losses in their last five games, although not dampening hopes and dreams, did dismantle hopes of an undefeated season, losing first to Dallas Cowboys, then in the regular season finale against the Eagles.

The ’91 post-season saw the Redskins enter in the Divisional Playoffs, defeating Atlanta Falcons 24-7, before the Lions were picked apart for a second time, this, a 41-10 result, in mid-January, in the NFC Championship game, and setting up a date with destiny, in Super Bowl XXVI, and the AFCs finest, Buffalo Bills.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Redskins put out thirty-one, unanswered points, across the second and third, the Bills blitzed out-of-sight, before a little rally in the fourth which, ultimately, was too little, too late.

For Bostic, Grimm, Jacoby, and Warren, it was their third Super Bowl ring, the latter having been in a Redskins jersey the longest (since ’79), for Bostic though, he knew, deep down in his heart of hearts, that their run, as magnificent as it had been, was ending.

“(Joe) Jacoby, (Russ) Grimm and I sat together (in the locker room after Super Bowl XXVI) and pulled out big cigars and lit them while we were still in our uniforms.

“I don’t think anybody would admit, but in the back of everyone’s mind, I think the idea was there that this might be the last time we get there.” Redskins C, Jeff Bostic, on the immediate aftermath of their third Super Bowl success, over the Buffalo Bills, at the Minneapolis Metrodome, in January 1992. ‘Hail Redskins,’ by Richard Whittingham, 2001

The End of An Era

Following victory in the ’91 Super Bowl the remaining Hogs soon departed; Hall of Famer, Russ Grimm, was the first to go, in 1991, having put on eleven seasons as a Redskins starting guard, moving into coaching and spending another eight years, 1992 – 2000, with the Redskins, as TE and OL Coach; teammate Mark May recalled of a time with Grimm, from back at Christmas ’82, in his 2005 memoir that; “I iced down a keg of beer and stationed it on the landing between the first floor and basement.

“Russ turned the landing into his headquarters for the evening.

“He grabbed a chair and a Hog shot glass (a 60-ounce pitcher) and parked his butt on the landing next to the keg.

“Except for an occasional trip to the bathroom, we didn’t see Russ on the first level all night…”

Warren was the next to step away, a year later, initially coaching at Centreville High School, Virginia, before becoming a pro scout, putting in two spells with the Redskins, and a near-decade with Carolina Panthers, whilst Bostic and Jacoby moved on in ’93, with all four having put in a decade or more service.

As for the ‘Boss Hog’ himself, Bugel retired, eventually, from the game overall, at the start of 2010, a couple of months before what was then, his seventieth birthday.

He’d actually left the Redskins in 1989, with a legacy, and a playbook, for the ages, becoming HC himself, at Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, before spending time at Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers, over 1995 – 2001 combined.

Bugel returned ‘home,’ to Washington in 2004, spending another five years at the franchise, until 2009, as their OL Coach, before finally wrapping up what was a great coaching career that spanned four decades, between 1964 and 2009.

One of the fore-runners of Bugel’s ‘The Hogs’ unit, OL George Starke, told nfl.com about what it meant to be there, and more at the beginning, upon the announcement of Bugel’s retirement.

“The Hogs made it so that offensive linemen make money, too,” motioned the former Redskins star.

“The game was always about the quarterback, the running back or the receivers.

“No-one ever talked about the offensive line before the Hogs.

“The Hogs were the first offensive line ever to take over a game all by themselves.

“Didn’t matter who the quarterback was. Didn’t matter who the running back was.

“It changed how people look at football. So now everybody knows you’ve got to have a good offensive line.” nfl.com ‘Bye, Boss Hog: Redskins OL coach Bugel retires after 32 seasons’ 13 January 2010

Since their last Super Bowl success however, back in 1991, a sixtieth in the NFL and eleventh under the guidance of HC Joe Gibbs, there’s been a slight slide in fortunes; a slide that’s seen just eight playoff appearances, and four NFC East titles (1999, 2012, 2015, and 2020), but no divisional championship since the early nineties.

That’s over three decades for Redskins supporters to fester, to dream, and a look at what units like ‘The Hogs’ brought to the franchise, and maybe a change back to their historic, may well be the way forward.

A way to rewrite the name back into Washington folkore, and, in quarterback Jayden Daniels, along with the likes of wide receiver Deebo Samuel, and running back Austin Ekeler, and an O-Line containing former Kansas City Chiefs guard, and three-time Super Bowl winner Nick Allegretti, center Tyler Biadasz, offensive tackles Josh Conerly Jnr and George Fant, Trent Scott and Laremy Tunsil, as well as the experienced Andrew Wylie, then maybe, just maybe, the ‘Skins can do something.

It all begins for the now, Wahington Commanders, on 7 September, at their Northwest Stadium home, against visiting New York Giants, the Commanders having finished second (12-5) to the Giants fourth (3-14) in the NFC East last time around.

The Commanders will then make the trip to Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers (11 September) before welcoming Pete Carroll’s new-look Las Vegas Raiders (21 September) in a hectic start to the 2025 campaign.

With a trip to Philadelphia Eagles (TBC), the regular season finishes around Christmas-time with the home game against the Eagles five days before the most wonderful time of the year, and the big day itself, 25 December, Christmas Day, seeing the Commanders close out with a home game against Dallas Cowboys.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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