Late Night in the Phog wasn’t all about hoops Friday night.

Gridiron great John Riggins made a cameo, jogging onto the court in his Kansas University letter jacket, blue jeans and boots to a standing ovation.

Riggins will become the 15th player to be added to the Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium today during KU’s football game with Baylor.

The former Jayhawk and NFL standout told the Allen Fieldhouse fans that he wished his parents were alive so they could have seen the ovation he received Friday night.

“I know that they would be extremely proud because it meant so much for their boys to go to the University of Kansas,” Riggins said.

The fun-loving Riggins joked that most people don’t know who he is anymore.

According to Riggins, if you’ve heard of him, “You’re either collecting social security or you’re dead.”

But the moment was somewhat serious for him as well. While he addressed the crowd, he was flanked by his daughters, Hannah and Coco, and he thanked the university and the fans for honoring him.

“I accept it graciously,” he said, before getting down on his right knee. “I bow humbly before you.”

Afterward, the 1992 NFL Hall of Fame inductee said it had been awhile – roughly 10 years – since he had been in Lawrence for a basketball game and even longer since he had been to a football contest.

Riggins said he came to watch a game in 1980 and did so not from the confines of Memorial, but from the hill outside the stadium.

The 1983 Super Bowl MVP was happy for the reception the Jayhawk faithful gave him.

“I’m a sucker for applause anyway,” he said. “But it was strange in a way. It really hit something emotional in me – not that I didn’t think it would be there – but I was a little bit surprised. … You’ve got to be pretty hard-hearted not to be moved by it.”

Riggins left Kansas in 1970, and his name finally will join the likes of other former stars today. He doesn’t think it’s long overdue, though.

“It’s been difficult to get back here, particularly now that I’ve started another career in radio,” he said. Riggins is host of a talk show from 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Lew Perkins arranged to have him flown out here.

“I never looked at it like, ‘Damn, why ain’t I in there.’ There were so many people to pick from, and I think there were so many people that were just as deserving as I am,” Riggins said.

Today will be the first time Riggins has watched the Jayhawks football team this season.

“Now that the Jayhawks are 5-0, I’ve become a fan. I’m one of those guys that hate to invest too much in it because I’m afraid they’ll let me down,” he said with a laugh. “I haven’t got to see them play, but, look, they can’t be doing too bad. They went to Manhattan and beat the Wildcats. I mean, back in my day, that was the only win you really needed, or a Missouri win, and everybody considered it a pretty successful year.”