Former Ohio State player Archie Griffin runs in a touchdown during the spring game Saturday. Team Grey won 40-31. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
Not many names are as synonymous with Ohio State football as legendary running back Archie Griffin.
The only two-time Heisman winner (1974-75) is set to receive a statue at the Rose Bowl in mid-August to honor his accomplishments in the game.
“I am humbled to have a statue in my honor at the Rose Bowl Stadium, one of the most prestigious stadiums in America,” Griffin said in the press release.
The legendary running back is also one of two players to have started in four consecutive Rose Bowls (1972-75), according to the release.
To go along with Griffin’s two Heisman trophies, he also earned All-American honors three times and is one of two players to win the Big Ten Conference Most Valuable Player award twice — 1973 and 1974 — and is a 1986 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.
He was named as a Rose Bowl All-Century Player in 2013, celebrating the game’s first 100 years.
During his time in Columbus, Griffin racked up 5,177 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns to go along with 25 catches for 286 yards and one touchdown. He later went on to play for the Cincinnati Bengals for seven years, where he rushed for 2,808 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
The statue is set to be adjacent to a Legends Walk that will also be introduced in mid-August and will highlight the 19 Heisman Trophy winners to have played in the Rose Bowl, according to the press release. The statue will be located in the stadium’s Court of Champions – the most visited location at the stadium.
His statue will be joining Jackie Robinson, the 1999 Team USA FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions, broadcaster Keith Jackson and former UCLA head coach Terry Donahue to make up only the fifth statute on the property.
According to the press release, the statue and Legends Walk were supported by several donors from across the country, many from the Columbus area. Donations were provided to the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the stadium’s future.
Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein, staples of the Ohio State and Central Ohio communities, provided the project’s final gift to finish the effort, according to the press release.
“Our family has known Archie Griffin for many years,” Jay Schottenstein said in the press release. “Not only is he one of the greatest college football players of all time, he is a great person who throughout his life has made significant and long-term contributions to his community and to the Ohio State University.”
This will be the first statue of the running back to be established anywhere in the country. According to the press release, a replica of the statue will be gifted to the Ohio State athletic department.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith thanked the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation for the statue.
“On behalf of The Ohio State University and the Department of Athletics, I wish to extend our most sincere thanks and gratitude to the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation for this wonderful honor of memorializing our all-time great, Archie Griffin,” Smith said in the press release.
The 2024 season will mark the 50th anniversary of Griffin’s first Heisman trophy campaign.
