During the Cleveland Browns’ disastrous 2016 season, a season that saw them lose 14 straight games and finish 1-15, Robert Griffin III saw some time as their starting quarterback.
He started five games under center and brought the team its only win of the season, a 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Christmas Eve.
Griffin wasn’t picked up by any team in the National Football League this past season, so he became an analyst for ESPN instead.
However, Griffin still yearns for yet another shot at being an NFL QB, and he claims that teams have called him about possibly offering him that opportunity.
His recent 4.48 40-yard dash apparently caught the eye of NFL scouts across the league.
When you run a 4.48 40-yard dash, even if for charity and #RunRichRun, people take notice — @RG3 talked with us about it and how he's gotten phone calls from #NFL execs about a possible return and where he'd like to go:#DallasCowboys#DirtyBirds #GoBears pic.twitter.com/0dw0HJiRJi
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) May 3, 2022
Is he truly deserving of a return to the gridiron?
Griffin Had Lots Of Unfulfilled Potential
When he was taken with the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, Griffin was thought to have plenty of potential as a franchise signal-caller.
The Baylor University star and Heisman Trophy winner was selected by the Washington Redskins, a franchise that hadn’t had an elite quarterback since perhaps Joe Theismann back in the early 1980s.
Griffin did well in his rookie season, achieving 3,200 yards and 20 touchdown passes against just five interceptions, as well as 815 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.
In Week 11, he became the first rookie ever to pass for 200 yards, pass for 4 touchdowns and rush for more than 75 yards in a single game when he did so versus the Philadelphia Eagles.
That performance made him the youngest player in league history to post a perfect passer rating in a game.
But disaster struck in Week 14 when Griffin suffered an LCL sprain and missed the Redskins’ following game.
In a controversial decision, Griffin was allowed to play in Week 16, then aggravated his knee injury in the team’s wild card playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which necessitated knee surgery.
He hasn’t been the same since.
After two more fruitless and disappointing seasons in Washington, Griffin went on to Cleveland, where he started the season as a backup behind Cody Kessler and Josh McCown.
When injuries hit, he filled in as a starter for five games, but he only completed 59.2 percent of his passes for 886 yards, two touchdowns and an anemic 72.5 passer rating.
The Best Situation?
It seems extremely unlikely that, at this point, any NFL team would be willing to take a chance on Griffin as a starter, given that he has been unable to recapture the form he showed as a rookie when he was named to the Pro Bowl and won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
But being a backup QB to a young and emerging signal-caller could work, and it’s the type of situation Griffin mentioned he would be open to.
https://twitter.com/ChiSportUpdates/status/1521569889886081027
In his last three seasons, he played behind Lamar Jackson on the Baltimore Ravens, and he feels that he was something of a mentor to Jackson.
Griffin is just 32 years of age, and it appears he has been taking care of himself, as evidenced by his strong showing in the 40-yard dash at Rich Eisen’s charity event.
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