By Ian Casselberry on

We’re only a few weeks into the 2021 college football and NFL seasons, but Robert Griffin III’s new job as an analyst for ESPN apparently hasn’t scratched his itch to get back on the field.

Appearing on The Adam Schefter Podcast, Griffin told ESPN’s NFL insider that he still has a hunger to play and has been taking calls from teams checking on his interest. One opportunity Griffin appears to have an eye on is with his former club, the Washington Football Team.

“I still wanna play,” said Griffin, 31. “People have asked me that a bunch. ‘Oh man, are you done with football?’ No, I still wanna play. I’m working out 11, 12 at night, 1 in the morning after calling games during the day. Really, if it means something to you, you find a way. You find the time to get working. I’m running, throwing, doing all these different things. I still wanna play.”

Griffin’s interest shouldn’t be a surprise. After seven professional seasons, he made it clear that his preference was to catch on with another NFL team rather than go into broadcasting. But with no team showing apparent interest, Griffin opted for the sure thing and joined ESPN for college football and NFL analysis.

Washington lost its starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a hip injury in Week 1 and the veteran likely won’t return until Week 8 or 9, presuming that he recovers fully. In the meantime, coach Ron Rivera is going with two of his former reserves from his Carolina Panthers days. Taylor Heinicke has taken over as the starter with Kyle Allen backing him up.

Heinicke played well in his first start of the season, leading Washington to a 30-29 win over the New York Giants in Week 2. The four-year veteran threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns, completing 74 percent of his passes. Coming off an impressive performance in Washington’s Wild Card Playoff loss to Tampa Bay (306 yards passing, 46 yards rushing, and two touchdowns), the argument could be made that Heinicke should have been the starter going into this season.

Related: Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke is pushing for a Heineken endorsement deal

But considering Heinicke’s lack of experience, it’s understandable that Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew wanted some veteran stability at quarterback. Thus, the team signed Fitzpatrick, a 17-year NFL veteran coming off two strong seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

With Fitzpatrick out up to two months and possibly the rest of the season, there’s a possible opening for a veteran signal-caller on Washington’s roster. And Griffin thinks his former team should give him a call.

“You never say never, is what I would say,” Griffin told Schefter. “Would I be open to it? Yeah, I would love to go back and be able to have that come full circle. But am I begging for that or pleading for that? Nah. But if your guy goes down, make the call. Wouldn’t it be a great story?”

Griffin began his career with Washington, drafted No. 2 overall in 2012 after a Heisman Trophy-winning senior season at Baylor. He threw for more than 3,000 yards in each of his first two seasons for 36 total touchdowns, while also rushing for more than 1,300 yards and helping NFL coaches realize that a quarterback with running talent could add a key component to an offense.

Look at how much run-pass options (RPOs) are part of NFL playbooks now. Can RG III provide a team what Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, and others offer along with their throwing talent right now?

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

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