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Archie Griffin

Columbus-born Ohio State tailback who is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice (1974 and 1975).

Born August 21, 1954, Columbus (hospital now Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)

Archie Griffin
CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
August 21, 1954, Columbus (hospital now Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center) (Franklin County) source
Also known as
Archie Griffin
Known as
Sports, Education

Archie Griffin is living. This page covers their public life only, from published sources. Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com

Life story

Archie Griffin was born in Columbus in 1954, one of eight children of James and Margaret Griffin, and grew up in the Linden area before starring at Eastmoor High School. Told that Woody Hayes preferred big backs, the 5-foot-9 Griffin started four years at Ohio State, from 1972 to 1975, ran for 100 yards in an NCAA-record 31 straight regular-season games, started four Rose Bowls, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1974 and again in 1975, the only player ever to win it twice. He played seven NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, including Super Bowl XVI. He then came home to Ohio State, where he worked in the athletics department from 1985, led the Alumni Association from 2004 to 2015, and retired in 2020. Columbus honors him with Archie Griffin Field at Eastmoor Academy, the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom in the Ohio Union, an honorary Archie Griffin Drive and, since 2024, the first statue of an Ohio State football player outside Ohio Stadium.

Ohio ties

  • Columbus (1954-1972)
    birthplace and boyhood home; Linmoor Junior High Franklin County · source
  • Eastmoor High School (now Eastmoor Academy), Columbus (to 1972)
    fullback; led Eastmoor to the 1971 Columbus City League title Franklin County · source
  • Ohio State University, Columbus (1972-1976)
    four-year starting tailback; two Heisman Trophies; graduated a quarter early in 1976 Franklin County · source
  • Cincinnati (1976-1983)
    running back for the Cincinnati Bengals Hamilton County · source
  • Ohio State University, Columbus (1985-2020)
    athletics administrator, then president and CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association (2004-2015) and special advisor Franklin County · source
  • Dayton (to 2014)
    investor in Mandalay Baseball Properties, owner of the Dayton Dragons Montgomery County · source

Timeline

  1. 1954 Born August 21 in Columbus. source
  2. 1971 As an Eastmoor senior ran for 1,787 yards and 29 touchdowns and 267 yards in the Columbus City League title game. source
  3. 1972 In his second game at Ohio State ran for 239 yards against North Carolina, a school record, after fumbling on his only carry in the opener. source
  4. 1973 Ran for 246 yards against Iowa and was named Big Ten MVP. source
  5. 1974 Won the Heisman Trophy, announced December 3, with 1,920 points after running for 1,620 yards. source
  6. 1975 Won a second Heisman Trophy, the only player to do so, and finished with an NCAA-record 31 straight 100-yard regular-season games. source
  7. 1976 Graduated from Ohio State a quarter early and was drafted 24th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. source
  8. 1982 Played in Super Bowl XVI with the Bengals, a 26-21 loss to San Francisco. source
  9. 1985 Joined the Ohio State athletics department after a brief USFL stint. source
  10. 1986 Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in New York in December. source
  11. 1996 Entered the National High School Hall of Fame; Eastmoor Academy renamed its field Archie Griffin Field. source
  12. 1999 Ohio State retired his No. 45 on October 30, the first number it retired. source
  13. 2004 Became president and CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association, serving until 2015. source
  14. 2010 An anonymous $2 million gift named the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom in the new Ohio Union. source
  15. 2020 Retired from Ohio State as a special advisor in the Office of Advancement. source
  16. 2024 Tuttle Park Place at Woody Hayes Drive received the honorary name Archie Griffin Drive in August. source
  17. 2024 A statue of Griffin was unveiled at the North Rotunda of Ohio Stadium on August 30, and he dotted the i in Script Ohio the next day. source

Stories

Too small for Woody

Griffin was one of eight children; his father, James Griffin Sr., worked three jobs, sunrise to midnight, to feed the family. As boys, he and his friends walked from the Linden neighborhood to the Ohio State campus to play basketball and watch games at Ohio Stadium. At Linmoor Junior High he was president of a student council run by counselor Oscar Gill, and at Eastmoor his coach Bob Stuart preached that the size of the fight in the dog mattered more than the size of the dog. Many people told him he would never get a real chance at Ohio State because Woody Hayes liked big running backs. He said Stuart's lessons carried him through that doubt.

Source

A fumble, then 239 yards

Griffin's only carry in his first game at Ohio State in 1972 ended in a fumble. In the second game, against North Carolina, he ran for 239 yards, breaking a school single-game record that had stood for 27 seasons. He broke his own record the next year with 246 yards against Iowa. With the Buckeyes switching to the I-formation, he led the Big Ten in rushing three straight years, and Ohio State went 40-5-1 with him as the starting back. Hayes later said he was a better young man than he was a football player, and the best football player Hayes had ever seen.

Source

The first Buckeye in bronze

In August 2024, fifty years after his first Heisman, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation unveiled a statue of Griffin at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and paid for an identical one in Columbus. On the morning of August 30 it was unveiled at the North Rotunda of Ohio Stadium, the first statue of an Ohio State football player outside the 102-year-old stadium. At the ceremony Griffin talked about his teammates instead of himself, saying they opened the holes and carried out the fakes that won him two Heismans, and pointing to the four Big Ten titles and four Rose Bowls of his years. A week earlier Ohio State had put up an honorary Archie Griffin Drive sign at Tuttle Park Place and Woody Hayes Drive, and the day after the statue unveiling he dotted the i in Script Ohio before the opener against Akron.

Source

Named for Archie Griffin

  • Archie Griffin Field, Eastmoor Academy (Columbus, Franklin County) source
  • Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom, Ohio Union (Columbus, Franklin County) source
  • Archie Griffin Drive (honorary, Tuttle Park Place) (Columbus, Franklin County) source
  • Big Ten Championship Game MVP award, named in 2010 for Red Grange and Archie Griffin source
  • Archie Griffin Scholarship Fund and Archie and Bonita Griffin Master of Sport Coaching Scholarship, Ohio State (Columbus, Franklin County) source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1234

Ohio places

Where Archie Griffin was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Archie Griffin, and what the record shows.

Often said Griffin set the NCAA career rushing record with 5,589 yards.

The record The 5,589 figure, Ohio State's school record, includes bowl games. The NCAA record he held at the time counted regular-season games only: 5,177 yards. His 31 straight 100-yard games were also regular-season games. source

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • Photograph of OSU Heisman winners Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Troy Smith along with Colu
    Photograph of OSU Heisman winners Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Troy Smith along...
    Public domain
  • Groundbreaking of the OSU Policing Center on 11th Avenue. Pictured in the photo are Mayor Michael Coleman, OSU President
    Groundbreaking of the OSU Policing Center on 11th Avenue. Pictured in the photo are Mayor Michael Coleman, OSU...
    Public domain
  • Archie Griffin in 2015
    Archie Griffin in 2015
    Paula R. Lively from Zanesville / CC BY 2.0
  • Michigan vs. Ohio State in Columbus on November 26, 2022. Zoey Holmstrom
    Michigan vs. Ohio State in Columbus on November 26, 2022. Zoey Holmstrom
    Maize & Blue Nation / CC BY 2.0
  • Michigan vs. Ohio State in Columbus on November 26, 2022. Zoey Holmstrom
    Michigan vs. Ohio State in Columbus on November 26, 2022. Zoey Holmstrom
    Maize & Blue Nation / CC BY 2.0
  • Michigan vs. Ohio State in Columbus on November 26, 2022. Zoey Holmstrom
    Michigan vs. Ohio State in Columbus on November 26, 2022. Zoey Holmstrom
    Maize & Blue Nation / CC BY 2.0
  • Image of Archie Griffin
    Image of Archie Griffin
    Stepshep (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Archie Griffin - 2023 National High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee
    Archie Griffin - 2023 National High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee
    Rush360 / CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Archie Griffin - 2023 National High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee
    Archie Griffin - 2023 National High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee
    Rush360 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com