Why Robert Griffin III Gives Me Mixed Emotions

A lot of folks have been asking me how I feel about Robert Griffin III as a football player. The most important question they should be asking me is how I feel about him becoming a Redskin. Everyone that knows me knows that I am a Cowboys fan to the heart. Griffin has just been drafted by the team that I despise the most and I am tormented the same way I was when the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb.

The Cowboys fan in me wants him to fall on his face and fail. It’s natural that the Cowboys fan feels that way though because that part of my inner self hates everything about the Washington Redskins.

The black man inside me wants him to go on and become the best quarterback in this class and be as good as any quarterback in the game. I don’t know if the black man inside me is rational, but what I do know is that the NFL hasn’t been color blind at all when it comes to athletic quarterbacks and participation.

When I glance across the NFL, one thing is for sure, there aren’t that many persons of color starting at quarterback. It didn’t really dawn on me until someone brought it to my attention that in a league that is made up of the best athletes on the planet, so few people of color play the most dominant position on the field. His point was that the most athletic and exciting college quarterbacks end up playing another position in the NFL.

It even happened before the season started when Tod McShay (who I don’t really know how he got to be an expert) labeled Robert Griffin III a fourth round wide receiver. In the words of McShay, Griffin didn’t possess the qualities of a passer and that he was a run first guy.

The problem is that NFL general managers and owners listen to what guys like McShay say and they run with it. Because the media has made quarterback play a “purist” entity, owners do not like to take chances on quarterbacks who don’t fit the traditional profile. I’ll give credit where credit is due; some teams ignore all that stuff and just roll with the guy they think can lead them. Granted it’s always a crap shoot, but there are more success stories than failures. The changes are coming though as you look at the quarterback position in college. The number of black quarterbacks continues to grow and eventually someone is going to finally let go of that stigma.

Don’t get it twisted though, today; most NFL GMs shy away from the athletic quarterback unless they are drafting them to play another position or to run gimmick plays or the “Wildcat”.

So to answer everyone’s question I want RGIII to be successful against everyone but the Cowboys. Even in that game I don’t care if he has record numbers, as long as the Cowboys win. There isn’t anything wrong with wanting the best of both worlds. 

Stay Breezy ~ I'm Out!

Comments

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I feel the same as you. I'm not a Cowboys fan but I'm kind of leary of him going to the Redskins. I'm not a believer of Shanahan but yet I pull for all black QB's. I hope he succeeds despite the odds. I really wish he would have gone to Indy.