During his Rookie of the Year campaign, the chants of “RG3! RG3! RG3!” were loud and rampant through the nation’s capital for the Washington Redskins new savior-in-the-form-of-a-quarterback. Robert Griffin, III could do no wrong as he captivated a region and became one of the most popular players in the NFL. 

Griffin's jersey sales were amongst the highest in NFL history for a player let alone a rookie.


 Everywhere you turned he was there. If it was not a front page national headline it was a television commercial. He seemed to have it all.

The Redskins, as a team, were riding high having recently won the 2012 NFC East Division and about to begin the playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks with a supremely bright future ahead of them. But disaster struck at the worst time as Griffin severely re-injured his right knee and the team — as we knew it — changed dramatically.

The following season, Griffin would make a courageous return having not missed any time and playing through an obviously still-not-right leg.

He actually posted decent numbers. On the year he attempted 456 passes, completing 274 of them (60.1 percent) for a career high 3,203 yards (7.0 average yards per attempt). He threw 16 touchdowns to go with 12 interceptions. All this was done only playing in 13 games.

Had Griffin not been ridiculously benched by an ax-to-grind head coach (Mike Shanahan) he might have actually thrown for over 4,000 yards that year… which has only been done by two Redskin Quarterbacks in history (Jay Schroeder ‘86 and Brad Johnson ‘99).

These are numbers that most NFL quarterbacks would sign up for immediately.

Unfortunately for Griffin, the most recent perception is that he has been a bust. No one seems to see him as the young signal caller who has had to bounce back from a career-altering injury and endure two different coaches who have uniquely different personalities (not to mention two different play books).

Griffin’s problems stem from being a social media and marketing magnet. In no defense of him, ask yourself this question:

If you were offered millions in endorsements promoting anything… honestly, would you turn it down at the risk of your job security?

If you say “yes” it’s because no one has offered you that situation because, believe me, I would take it and run right to the bank.

Griffin was already a celebrity when he came to Washington having captured the Heisman Trophy while at Baylor. And before he took his first snap he was a household name because the team he took his first snap for drafted him, anointed him savior and yet didn’t know how to handle him. He should have been left alone to be a football player, not a marketing piece.

What transpired last year — and to some extent up until new General Manager Scot McCloughan was hired — was a sheer circus.

For Griffin to fall so far out of favor with fans and so many in the media is the unfortunate result of some sort of fictitious character being created about the young man by the public somehow.

Now his only job is to make his teammates and coaches happy. He is spending more time with his teammates, for example, so that process has already started.

For Griffin to be successful this year he has to, as he said, not “pay attention to what everyone says but play for his teammates and coaches.”

If he can do that — and lead this team to some early season wins — that familiar chant of “RG3! RG3! RG3!” will be back. And maybe this time, for good.