The Cleveland Browns are reeling at the quarterback position after Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury. With unproven rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson in line to start, ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III is throwing his hat in the ring.
RG3 told the Browns to hit up his phone line for myriad reasons, adding that he’d also settle for a backup role behind DTR. You can find his fully-stated case in the video below:
But OK. It’d take approximately a year to sort out what’s worth transcribing.
Here are the main points from Griffin’s pleading Cleveland monologue as to why he’s cut out to be the Browns’ starter right now:
- Understands the game better than ever at age 33.
- Knows how to slide and when to slide, which he admits was a huge issue.
- Can manage the game and complement the Browns’ elite defense.
- Still runs a 4.3-second 40-yard dash and throws the ball 80 yards in the air.
- Trains every week like an NFL football player.
- Learned six different offenses in eight NFL seasons, so picking up the playbook won’t be a problem.
I haven’t listened to the full podcast. Maybe he’s messing around and this is a mock interview exercise. Sure doesn’t seem like it. I’ve heard RG3 talk before about how teams don’t want him as a backup because of his big personality and all the attention that comes with acquiring him. I see that to an extent, yet I can’t help but think, “Well buddy, you haven’t played in the league since 2020, would you really be that much of a distraction?”
No offense! Love me some RG3. The man is in his bag as a broadcaster more than anyone. Just wildly inappropriate, NSFW analogies left and right when he’s calling games. We need more of it. You won’t find RG3 pulling a Charissa Thompson and faking sideline reports. This man will go fully Harry Potter on Halloween and get ever more creative with his bits.
Griffin has the best of intentions and obviously still has the competitive fire to play in the NFL. It’s just that, considering how stupid the Browns often look when it comes to QB acquisitions, imagine trusting your 6-3 team to a signal-caller who hasn’t played in Kevin Stefanski’s offense before, much less in an NFL game in approximately four years. That’s a tough sell no matter which way you slice it.
Good for Griffin trying to manifest a future in Cleveland. Probably feels like there’s some unfinished business from his first stint there in 2016.
The Browns were tanking as blatantly as any team has in NFL history before or since. Griffin went 1-4 as the starter. As cool as it’d be to see him on the field again, the former dual-threat dynamo who won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2012 has too much of an uphill battle for this dream to become a reality. At least in this writer’s opinion.
On the other hand, shoot, look at our guy Joshua Dobbs. Bounces all over the NFL. Keeps getting opportunities. Keeps working at his craft. Somehow valmorphanizes into a solid-looking starter for a Vikings team chasing a playoff spot. Who’s to say a former No. 2 overall pick with RG3’s talent can’t pull something like that off?
Go ahead, prove me and the world wrong, RG3! Based on the Browns’ series of disastrous decisions on their quest to find a franchise QB, it’d be the funniest sh*t ever if this actually worked.
