Robert Griffin III gives great interview, then gets his words twisted around
Robert Griffin III gave a thoughtful interview with WJLA, which isn’t a big surprise because the Washington Redskins quarterback generally is pretty insightful.
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He really brought folks into his mindset as a competitor with this long, nuanced quote:
“I don’t feel like I have to come out here and show anybody anything or why I’m better than this guy or better than that guy. It’s more about going out and affirming that for me, I go out and I play, 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,” Griffin said, via the Washington Post. “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.”
If you read that all, it makes sense. You don’t want to concede if you’re competing at the highest level. It’s about proving to himself that he is a top NFL quarterback, and not trying to show he’s better than this guy or that guy. Others have done more but he has the vision of being the best because he wants that mindset. It’s very interesting to hear that side of his mental side of the game.
Oh, and then “I feel like I’m the best quarterback in the league” just became the latest Internet meme, grinding a pretty thoughtful interview into a few words and using it to rip Griffin. Ugh.
ESPN talked about that quote in the middle of the day. Other outlets used that as a headline and social media went nuts. This was not Griffin standing on a table and saying he was the best quarterback in football, you can’t read that long quote and have that takeaway. But who really read the full context?
Griffin is one of those quarterbacks who can set people off, and I’m not sure why. He was a bit over-exposed after his rookie season, but he’s not the first athlete to get a lot of attention. He has struggled for two seasons, though injuries have certainly played a part. A lot of the criticism of him as a player is valid; he doesn’t seem comfortable in the pocket and he hasn’t mastered the finer points of playing quarterback in the NFL. But I’m not sure why we’re in such a rush to pick at him.
For example, look at this other quote from the WJLA interview, via the Washington Post:
“It’s not the game you thought it was when you were a kid and you were dreaming of playing and being a professional athlete,” Griffin said. “There’s more business that goes into it, there’s more ruthlessness, backstabbing than you would expect. But at the end of the day when you put your helmet on your shoulder pads and your pants, your cleats and you get to go out there and run around on the field, it’s still that same game that you played as a kid.
“So when I look at it that way, I’m like, man, it’s an honor, it’s a blessing to be at this level, to be able to go out here with 90 guys and truly enjoy, truly enjoy this process. So that’s where I look at it now. I didn’t expect the other stuff, but I think God’s helped me grow through everything that I’ve had to go through here in Washington and it’ll make me better for the future.”
I’ve been around a lot of NFL players for a lot of interviews, and what Griffin said there is way more introspective than almost anything you’ll hear in a locker room. He put real thought into the answer (as he did when Yahoo’s Charles Robinson interviewed him at Redskins camp earlier this month), and you can tell football means something to him. Put those words in another player’s mouth and we’d be congratulating them for being a great ambassador for football and maintaining such a great attitude, right? That quote right there, about seeing through the business side of the NFL to enjoy the game itself and appreciate the process of getting better, is a heck of a motivational speech for young players.
But yet, let’s just debate that Griffin said he thinks he’s the best quarterback in football. How unfair is that? I’m sure he’ll love sharing more thoughts about his career after this.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
