It's been six years since Robert Griffin III last wore burgundy and gold for Washington, five since he was officially released by the team in March 2016.
Now, after going unsigned in the offseason after three seasons in Baltimore, the one-time Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback has turned to a broadcasting career at ESPN, as he awaits his next opportunity in the NFL. And, Washington fans would be interested to know that, if that opportunity happened to come from Washington, he would be open to returning to where it all began for him nine years ago.
When Ryan Fitzpatrick was injured in Washington's season-opener earlier this month, Griffin composed a tweet, saying, "Make the Call," accompanied by a video highlight from his rookie season in Washington, where he was selected second overall in 2012.
When speaking on Adam Schefter's ESPN podcast this week, Griffin left no ambiguity about what he meant by that tweet.
"How about Washington? How about going back to Washington?" Schefter asked Griffin. "Could that ever happen?"
"Yeah, I mean it could," Griffin said. "To be honest, you know, I'm sure you saw the tweet that I put out saying make the call when Ryan Fitzpatrick went down. And Taylor Heinicke, don't get me wrong, every opportunity that he's gotten, it seems like he's seized those moments."
"But for me to go back to Washington," he continued, "it's one thing for me to be open to it, it's one thing for the fans to be open to it. You know, I still hear stories about how the stadium is filled with No. 10 jerseys. And that makes you feel good because you feel like you made an impact, but for me to go back, that would have to be something that coach Ron Rivera and the team would be open to. And I think you never say never, is what I would say."
"Would I be open to it? Yeah," Griffin said. "I would love to go back and be able to have that come full circle, you know? But am I begging for that or pleading for that? No. But if your guy goes down, make the call."
"As a guy who loves stories, that would be a great story, Robert," Schefter followed up.
"Wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be a great story? I mean, come on," Griffin said. "I've always looked at the situation in Washington as just wrong place, wrong time. The injury at the end of the 2012 season in the playoffs against Seattle. And people will talk about that and say 'what if' forever if I never go back and am able to have some type of resurgence there."
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This prompted Griffin to reflect on how things went wrong in Washington, after the knee injury he suffered in the 2012 playoffs rendered him less explosive than he'd been for the rest of his sensational rookie season, and struggling to regain his form the following year while waging a war over public perception with his head coach through the media.
"But for me, it's just... I always look at this and like I talked with Lamar about this when I was there for three years," Griffin said. "The best thing that ever happened to him was that he got drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. Because they let him be himself, they built the offense around him. In the last four years, you've never seen Lamar Jackson truly change how he talks to the media, the verbiage that he uses, how he dresses, how he wears his hair — all these different things, because they make him who he is.
"Now, if you take that and apply it to what he does on the field, they've never changed him. They've tried to make him better. Drop-back pass, play-action, whatever it may be. But they've never tried to say, 'Okay, let's take a round peg and put it in a square hole.' And I think that was one of the issues in Washington. There wasn't complete buy-in."
"But when you look at a guy like Lamar. Look at [Ryan] Tannehill," Griffin said of Tannehill, a fellow 2012 first-round pick who revitalized his career in Tennessee after being traded by Miami in March 2019. "Complete buy-in from the coach, GM, scouts, everybody."
With Washington for four seasons (2012-2015), Griffin was relegated to a backup role by 2014 after a 3-10 start in 2013 led to his benching for the final three weeks of that season. All these years later, Griffin says he was astonished that he didn't get more time to prove himself in Washington.
"People don't understand how important that structure is for a young quarterback," he said. "Let Trevor Lawrence throw three picks every week for 17 weeks. And let him develop! Don't start having divisions in the building, saying, 'You gave up so much for this guy.' And for me as a high draft pick, the second pick in the draft behind Andrew Luck, it was just astonishing to me that I got one and a half years. One and a half years."
"Now, don't get me wrong, Josh Rosen got less than that," Griffin said of the 10th overall pick in 2018. "But he wasn't the second pick in the draft. He also wasn't the guy that they gave up — what was it? — three first-round picks?
"And even got in trouble for that. Because they felt like it was kind of like a backdoor deal with the Rams at the time, so they got penalized and we couldn't sign anybody in the offseason because we didn't have any money. So I just thought that, man, that would be a great story, but... who knows? You never know."
Griffin's reflection triggered a memory for Schefter about a conversation he had around that time with former Washington head coach Mike Shanahan.
"I called Mike," Schefter said. "It was like right before the offseason began. I said, 'Do you realize you're losing all this cap space?' He's like, 'What are you talking about?'"
"Exactly," Griffin chimed.
"He had no idea," Schefter recalled. "He went to Bruce [Allen's] office, marched down: 'What the hell's going on here? Adam just called me and told me we just lost millions and millions of cap space!' And, that was true."
Griffin, although appreciative of his new role at ESPN, spoke at great length on the podcast about how he hopes to play quarterback in the NFL once again. In fact, as he continues to prepare for an opportunity should it come knocking, Griffin says he's already received some calls about returning to the game he loves.
"Yes, it has come close and, honestly, throughout the offseason it was getting closer and closer and closer," he said. "For a guy like myself, if I'm not in the building right away, then you're just bringing me in to be QB2, to solidify your room, add some knowledge to your QB room. So I had to wait until after training camp and then that happened, and the teams that were interested are still interested, but something's gotta happen."
"And I'm realistic about that and I understand that," he said. "But as you see the year go on and all these guys are getting banged up and injured, for me, it's like my faith comes into play. Because on one hand, I don't want anybody to [get hurt], right? I don't want to see guys get hurt and then, 'Oh, that's why I got the [opportunity].' But, at the same time, I understand the business of it all, and if a guy goes down, then there's got to be a guy that comes up.
"And right now, the only really two guys that are out there on the market with a ton of playing experience who have had success in the league are myself and Cam Newton. Alright? So it's like, who are you gonna bring in, right? I don't know. But the teams that have called this week, I've been excited about that. But at the same time, I do have a job and I enjoy my job. So it's more about what's gonna be out there? What is the opportunity for me? And teams that called know that I'm ready to roll."
Griffin was asked what it would take to push beyond a conversation, to the point in which he actually leaves the broadcast booth to play football again.
"For me it's, I want to play. I'm 31. You see Tom Brady. He's what, 74? And he's playing games still, right?" Griffin said. "So for me, it's I want to play. ESPN understands that. When I signed on, they understood that. But they also understand that this is something that, prayerfully, I'll be able to do for the next 30 years, right? Thirty, 40 years since I'm a young guy. And I want to find success and work with these guys."
"But from the team standpoint, I don't really care what goes on. I don't care if a guy gets hurt or doesn't get hurt; I believe that I am one of the best quarterbacks in the league when it comes to top-32," he continued. "I think Cam said that he's not 32 and there's not 32 guys that are better than him. I would agree with that — I don't think there's 32 guys that are better than Cam, myself, or let alone 64 that are better than Cam or myself."
"But, each team has their own prerogatives," he said. "They have young guys that they want to [work in] and we're looking to come in, obviously continue playing the game, but also revitalize our careers. And sometimes teams can shy away from that early on, but if they have injuries, then they might be more willing to bring you in because they know that you can play."
Griffin was asked how much motivation he draws from seeing that quarterbacks from his same 2012 draft class — namely Ryan Tannehill (8th overall pick), Russell Wilson (third-round pick) and Kirk Cousins (fourth-round pick) — are still thriving in the NFL. "Guys who you were drafted with in the same year are still playing at a high level," Schefter said.
"I think you phrased that the right way. It's motivation. It's not bitterness or jealousy," Griffin said. "It's to say... obviously Russell's been doing it since the beginning, right? We both came in, both had great rookie years. He's been doing it since the beginning. Big fan, of the guy, of the player."
"Kirk was a guy that got countless opportunities, and eventually turned that into being one of the highest-paid guys, I mean, really, ever," he said of his former teammate Cousins, who was also selected by Washington later in the same draft.
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"And then you talk about Tannehill and his resurgence after he left Miami, and was able to go to Tennessee," Griffin continued. "You talk about Nick Foles (a third-round pick in 2012) and how he was on the brink of retirement, and then he goes out and he's the backup in Philly. Carson Wentz goes down and he goes and helps them win a Super Bowl."
"For me, it is more motivation," he said. "I'm not extrinsically motivated by other guys. I'm a self-motivated guy. But when I see all these opportunities and these guys maximizing... Tyrod Taylor, goes out, gets a chance to compete. Boom. Wins the job. That's what I want to get to.
"I know this year, I mean it's the season — you're not competing to be the quote, unquote, 'starter' in the season. So for me it's about a team has an injury, or they want to bring me in, that's awesome. But next year, if I can get an opportunity to come in and compete, go somewhere, whatever it may be, then I'm on board for that. But I do firmly believe, not only in my ability, but in my wherewithal."
"And I'm a young 31, because I haven't had an opportunity to really play the game for about five or six years, extensively," he added. "Spot duty in Baltimore, two games against the Steelers — one game we win, one game we lose. So my last two starts, I'm 1-1.
"But, not really running an offense that was perfectly suited to me. Perfectly suited to Lamar Jackson, because of what Lamar Jackson does. I'm a different player than Lamar Jackson. And I believe I would thrive in a system similar to the ones that Tannehill, Cousins and Russell Wilson have played in."
