It’s never good when the best ways to describe a quarterback go from “star” or “Heisman trophy-winning” to “embattled” or “overconfident.”
Robert Griffin III, the former Heisman Trophy-winning star quarterback for the Washington professional footballers has become increasingly embattled since his rookie campaign, with his overconfidence the topic du jour—and the focus of a reported team-inflicted media ban—during training camp this week.
Griffin told the media, via WashingtonPost.com’s DC Sports Bog, that his outlook on the game has changed from when he was a rookie, seeing more of the cutthroat way one as embattled as he has to be to survive in the NFL. “There’s more business that goes into it,” Griffin told WJLA’s Alex Parker, via the DC Sports Bog. “There’s more ruthlessness, backstabbing than you would expect.”
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RGIII told reporters he has to rise above that, and look at the game like he did when he was a kid, and he thinks God has helped him through everything he’s had to endure in Washington, offering, “it’ll make me better for the future.”
How much better? Let’s let RGIII tell us.
“I know I’m the best quarterback on this team. I feel like I’m the best quarterback in the league and I have to go out and show that.
“Any athlete at any level, if they concede to someone else, they’re not a top competitor, they’re not trying to be the best that they can be. There’s guys in this league that have done way more than me. But I still view myself as the best because that’s what I work toward every single day.”
The fastest way to get yourself banned from interviews with the media during training camp is to talk about rising above those trying to stab you in the back before telling people you think you’re the best quarterback in the league, despite doing a whole heap of nothing to this point in your career.
Unless Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton and probably ten other quarterbacks I’m not naming because you get the point all died this offseason and nobody knows but RGIII, it’s probably best he refrain from speaking about himself in the same context as any of them unless it’s to confess to their collective murders.
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There’s a case to be made that RGIII might be the fourth best starting quarterback in his own division, so the last thing Washington needs is their former-star turned embattled signal caller adding any bulletin board material to the teams Washington will play this season.
Fox Sports reported Tuesday that RGIII was banned from speaking to the media, until he did, in an attempt to clarify Monday’s comments about his greatness by claiming he was taken out of context. From FoxSports.com:
“So, addressing what happened with what happened yesterday with the firestorm that took off with what I said, I know what I meant,” said Griffin, who reportedly spoke to the team’s media relations staff following practice in an attempt to lift his media ban. “I think everyone who is in this circle knows what I meant.”
Everyone in every circle knows what you meant. You meant to say you have to brush off all the negativity and criticism and go out on the field with the mindset that nobody can stop you. You have to play every down, take every snap like you are still the Heisman trophy-winning star you were when you came into the league, not the embattled, overconfident veteran you sound like now.
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We know what you meant. You just shouldn’t have said it.
“It’s just unfortunate that my name keeps getting used for headlines, for people to click on stories,” Griffin said. “I know what I want to be. I know what I strive to be. And I’m not going to make any apologies for that.”
Again, nobody is asking him to apologize for anything, other than perhaps the Washington media relations staff for giving them an early-season migraine before the first round of cuts. And to say it’s “unfortunate” his name keeps getting used for headlines is hilarious, considering he didn’t seem to mind the headlines when he was the Heisman Trophy-winning star.
When you’re embattled and overconfident, those headlines are going to be less fortunate. It’s just not the media’s fault for that.
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