Exclusive Interview With Robert Griffin III

Many people remember Robert Griffin III as the former Baylor University quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy in 2011, enjoyed a meteoric rookie year with the Washington Redskins in 2012 (culminating in being named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year), and had his career come crashing down after that, thanks to a combination of conflicts with the organization in Washington coupled with injury troubles.

But now, in the second act of his NFL career, Griffin has emerged as a valuable reserve quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, backing up the reigning Most Valuable Player in the league in Lamar Jackson.

We had the opportunity to conduct an exclusive “Q&A” with Griffin, and discuss some of the things going on in his life right now.

At the top of everyone’s mind in these times is undoubtedly the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Given how it’s shut down so much of the world as we know it, as one would suspect, Griffin’s life during the offseason has been affected in the same way that pretty much everyone else’s life has been.

For instance, when asked about when his official enshrinement into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, in which he was recently named, would take place, Griffin mentioned: “It has been postponed right now to a later date; I think they are hoping to have the ceremony in July.”

And that wasn’t the only thing that COVID-19 affected, as far as Griffin’s plans. He added: “We have had to cancel all family trips. We have been “stuck” in LA for the past month and are making the drive to Texas on Friday. Thinking this is safest and best decision for our family.

Of course, we didn’t to spend the entire conversation talking about how the CoronaVirus, so we were able to discuss some brighter topics with Griffin as well. For instance, we wanted to find out which, out of all the numerous locations that Griffin has done charity work, has touched him the most emotionally.

“Friends For Life, based in Waco TX” replied Griffin. “I’ve done volunteer and charity work there during my time at Baylor and after I left. It’s a special place with special people who need to know they matter and are not forgotten.”

In all of his prior NFL stops, Griffin was always known for being a consistent presence on social media. As of late, with the music video app “TikTok” being all the rage, Griffin has also recently partook in said application, posting a few videos with his wife, Greta Griffin. We asked Griffin about who choreographs the routines on his video, and he mentioned another family member.

“Our TikTok choreographer is Jade, my Oregon Volleyball-playing sister-in-law. She’s a college kid so she has it down.”

And given that we’re only days away from the 2020 NFL Draft, we would’ve been remiss to not ask Griffin about his advice for the young quarterbacks about to be drafted into the NFL, in terms of both handling the transition from college and avoiding the pitfalls that others – like Griffin – might’ve faced along the way.

Griffin’s response, as always, was both simple, effective, and highly inspirational – all the things that we’ve come to expect from a young man wise beyond his years:

“Have fun throughout the process and never forget why you play the game,” Griffin said.