You can have all the money in the world, run one of the largest companies in the state, heck, you could even be elected Governor of Alabama — but you still wouldn’t have the cachet that comes with being an SEC Football Legend.

Riggins is a member of the 2009 SEC Football Legends Class, a spot he earned after an impressive career as a big-hitting linebacker for Coach Pat Dye at Auburn. He helped lead the Tigers to SEC titles in 1987, ’88 and ’89.

Since then, has has worked for governors on both sides of the aisle, including some time as a cabinet member in the Riley administration. He also worked for Democrat Speaker of the House Seth Hammett, then ran the governmental affairs operation at the Business Council of Alabama before briefly launching his own firm.

Nowadays, Riggins is Alabama Power’s top lobbyist. The VP of governmental affairs at APCo is the top of the totem pole for corporate lobbyists. He has virtually unlimited resources and personnel at his disposal, especially when an issue directly effecting Alabama Power comes before the legislature. That’s pretty often considering the Power Company’s business is so vast that almost every issue could effect them in some way.

Riggins is in his third session leading APCo’s state governmental affairs operation and seems to be hitting his stride.