Robert Griffin III, the first player from Baylor to win the Heisman Trophy, appeared on today’s episode of Scoop B Radio.
The host of Wave Sports + Entertainment’s Outta Pocket with RG3 podcast, discussed a multitude of topics including the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Steph Curry and LeBron James.
The former Washington Redskins quarterback turned ESPN analyst also discussed how the GOAT, Michael Jordan inspired him to play football.
Apparently the Chicago Bulls’ six-time NBA Champ inspired him to play basketball. “I wanted to be like Mike,” Robert Griffin III tells Scoop B Radio.
“I don’t know how I got into football! To be honest with you, I only played it because my friends played it. I wasn’t even a starter in high school until I was a junior so, I wanted to be like Mike, you know what I’m sayin’? Jordan was probably my muse and when it came to football, I was a Denver Broncos fan so John Elway was the guy that I was running around saying, ‘I’m throwing it deep…Catches it… Touchdown!’”
While Mike may have been his muse on first and second downs, RGIII shares that his father implored him to study another all time great in Philadelphia Eagles icon Randall. “My dad made me study Randall Cunningham,” he said.
“So I got a lot of respect for Randall Cunningham and he knows that; when I did that special in Philadelphia with Jalen and Donovan and the guys, that was inspired by Randall Cunningham because we want to show him the love he deserves.”
RG III was a three-sport star in basketball, football in high school before he decided to become a football and track star in college at Baylor. In fact, Griffin was a renaissance man: Griffin graduated in three years with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a 3.67 GPA, while appearing on the dean’s list twice.
An Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar, during his final year of college sports eligibility, RG III was studying for a master’s degree in communications before ultimately being drafted second by the then-Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) in the 2012 NFL Draft. He was doing all of these things at a time that was pre NIL, Twitter, Tik Tok and Instagram collaborative. “We didn’t have any NIL back then, social media back then was a little bit taboo because your top quarterbacks were never on it,” Griffin recounted.
“So when I came in I was on social media, I was doing the commercials right away and we won Rookie of the Year and the Division title and everything was gravy! I think if I was coming out today, I would look at guys like Travis Hunter and how he’s got a YouTube channel and how he’s creating his own content and then he’s STILL ballin’ out on the field. I think there’s a little misunderstanding that as a player you can’t create something that’s your own without it distracting from what you’re doing and I think these new age players have captured that essence.”
That’s high praise for Colorado wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter who is projected by many experts to be drafted No. 1 in next year’s NFL Draft. While Griffin’s playing career pre-dates NIL deal’s, his portfolio of endorsement deals during his rookie season in the NFL was expansive. As a matter of fact, Griffin earned more than any other rookie in NFL history before throwing his first regular-season pass as a result of his endorsement deals.
Before the start of his rookie season with the Redskins, Griffin signed deals with Adidas, Castrol Motor Oil, EA Sports, EvoShield, Gatorade, Nissan, and Subway.
Fast forward to today’s athlete who receive NIL deals: Griffin embraces the creativity of athletes like Hunter and his Colorado teammate, Shedeur Sanders who are able to balance of authentic while being student-athletes that double as entrepreneurs who earn money from their likenesses. “100 percent,” said Griffin.
“And listen, I want to laugh. I want to have a good time! Being able to wake up every single day is a blessing that you can’t take for granted, so it’s okay to crack a joke. It’s okay to express yourself and be your true self all the time. To be authentic and I think that authenticity comes from what you post and also how you carry yourself. And you know, I’m forever proud of how I carry myself and what I post on social media to have a good time, to lead people and to motivate people.”
During his NFL playing career, Griffin set league records for the highest rookie passer rating and touchdown–interception ratio, while leading the Redskins to their first division title since in 1999. In his rookie season, RG III earned a Pro Bowl nod and Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. While a knee injury and ankle injury changed the trajectory of his NFL career, RG III had stints with the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens before retiring in 2020. Since then, Griffin’s career has taken full shape as a commentator on television and in the digital media space. While his time had ESPN may have ended, his podcasting stint is now in full bloom, Griffin has used new media to showcase his personality as well as lending his critique to other sports besides JUST football. “Sometimes when things happen in the sports world, you see people gravitate towards politics,” Griffin tells Scoop B Radio.
“I’m 34 years old and I feel like I can talk sports. I can talk entertainment. I can talk about politics but I’m not going to go in a certain one direction because of ‘you know’… In today’s world it’s like far right/ far left and they’ll support you whatever. I’m just going to continue to be true to myself. If I’m going to comment on Īmān Khalīf the boxer from Algeria and it’s something that I want to talk about, then I’m going to talk about it and I feel like that I have the range to be able to pull that off and on my own content and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
From football to politics? And then boxing? That’s a renaissance man.
Here’s a million dollar question for RG III: Who is the Steph Curry of football? “Steph Curry kind of changed the game with the three-point line and how you do that,” said Griffin.
“Oh man, I would say it’s Lamar Jackson because Patrick Mahomes in my opinion is like LeBron, you know what I mean? He can do it all — his scrambling ability shows up when you least expect it in the Super Bowl or in the AFC Championship Game but, Lamar has shown you that you don’t have to throw for 4,000 yards to win MVP; you don’t have to do it the way they tell you to do it. He’s kind of implemented this way where he can be a quarterback and it helps Jalen Hurts, it helps Kyler Murray… it helps Jalen Milroe who’s coming out after this year I think [laughs]… and that’s why I would say that Lamar is that guy because he changes the way you view the quarterback position — it doesn’t mean that [Michael] Vick didn’t do it, it doesn’t mean that Colin [Kapernick] didn’t do it, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t do it or Randall Cunningham… It’s just that he’s won two MVP’s. He’s the greatest dual threat quarterback in NFL history and I think that he’s changed the game.”
That’s Griffin’s basketball and football analysis. He’s also dialed in with music. When asked what artists are on his playlist, the renaissance man painted a picture that included Gospel music, East Coast and West Coast rap. “Some people say that you can’t love Biggie and ‘Pac,” said Griffin.
“But you CAN! You can appreciate the greatness of what Tupac was able to accomplish and when you actually listen to him talk, he wasn’t just about making club bangers, right? He was about inspiring youth to not live that Thug Life. So, I listen to Biggie. I listen to ‘Pac. I listened to Jay-Z. I listen to Nas. I’m a very eclectic music guy, but my favorite artist is Fred Hammond!”
Make Sure You Watch Griffin’s full interview on Scoop B Radio by Clicking Here.
