The Rose Bowl unveiled a statue of two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin on Aug. 17. A replica will be unveiled at Ohio State on Aug. 30.
Archie Griffin Statue Unveiled At Rose Bowl
Archie Griffin, who is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first of his back-to-back Heisman wins, visited newly minted Big Ten territory this weekend in Pasadena, Calif., where the Rose Bowl unveiled a statue of the Ohio State legend outside the venerable stadium.
The event was sponsored by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation. Griffin’s statue, which sits outside Tunnel 28, is nearby to what will be a new Legends Walk inside the stadium’s gates that will feature the 19 Heisman Trophy winners who have played in the Rose Bowl Game.
The statue of Griffin, who played in four Rose Bowls during his Buckeye career, is in good company and joins monuments of former UCLA Bruins Jackie Robinson and Terry Donahue, college football broadcasting icon Keith Jackson and the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup team.
“This place has special memories,” Griffin told media at the event. “Every time I come out here what comes to mind is the Rose Bowl because we would always come out two-and-a-half weeks early and train here, because back in Ohio it was not set up for training in the winter.
“We got a chance to do a lot of things, enjoy all the attractions around and that was good sometimes, and sometimes it was bad because you couldn’t concentrate on what you were trying to do. But we enjoyed it out here.”
The Rose Bowl also gifted Ohio State a replica of the statue, which will be unveiled in Columbus at the Rotunda on Aug. 30.
Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork was on hand for the ceremony and said: “It’s easy to read the stats, the accolades — and those are amazing Anyone who’s ever interacted with Archie didn’t walk away thinking, ‘wow, he was a great football player.’ They walked away saying, ‘what a great person.’ Archie is the definition of a Buckeye.”
Griffin, who was joined by family and friends at the event, was humble as always when discussing what the statue means to him.
“I was just in the right place, at the right time, with the right set of people, to accomplish what I did,” Griffin said.