Looking back on the play years later, Regiels said "I was embarrassed when I realized what I had done. I wanted a hole to open in the ground so I could jump in it. But that soon passed, and I reached a stage when mention of it would cause me to bristle. Soon that passed and it has never really bothered me since, except in cases when people tried to exploit it." Riegels was reminded of his mistake throughout his life. Riegels once said: "All the times I've run across or heard people saying 'wrong way,' even though they weren't referring to me, I immediately turned around to see if they were speaking about me. I still don't understand how I did it." Riegels dealt with his situation by laughing about what happened. Riegels once joked "If I had to do it again, I'd still run in the same direction, for I surely thought I was going the right way." Riegels also said "You run the wrong way with a football in front of 60,000 people, and it's pretty hard to lie out of it." When presented his membership card into the Georgia Tech Lettermen's Club 42 years later, Riegels quipped, "Believe me, I feel I've earned this."