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Former Redskins Offensive line coach Joe Bugel always said the Hogs nickname started very simply, with him shouting at the Hogs, “OK, you Hogs, let’s get running down here.”
But former Hog George Starke provided a little more detail and it revolved around the Redskins newest Hall of Famer, Russ Grimm.
“Obviously, everyone knows that Russ is a Hog,” Starke recalled, “but not everyone knows that the name Hogs came from a description of him. He was lying on the ground at the end of a blocking drill and Joe Bugel walked by and Russ had his stomach peeking out of his shirt. Buges said, ‘Man Russ get up you look like a Hog laying on the ground.’ After that the rest of us decided to poke fun at Buges and wear white shirts to practice and we all had Hogs written on them. Buges said to us, ‘why are you doing that?’ We said, ‘because we are in solidarity with Russ and if you call him a Hog, you have to call us all Hogs.’ That is where the name came from.”
As for Grimm’s honor, Starke said, “I think Russ is the greatest guard to ever play pro football. He and Randy White had so many battles and Russ won most of those battles and Randy is in the Hall of Fame. I think it is only fitting that Russ make it in.”
