Five years after former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III announced, then scrapped, a tell-all book about his time with an inherently dysfunctional franchise, Griffin is apparently ready to tell his story. Or at least part of it.
Griffin, while wearing a full uniform of the franchise he played for in 2012 (including a jersey with the abandoned name and a helmet with the expunged logo), moves his 2012 NFL offensive rookie of the year trophy from a chair and then sits down. A graphic on the screen says, “Preparing for my Netflix Documentary about why they kept running me when I only had one leg against Seattle in 2012.”
He’s referring to the wild-card game against the Seahawks, during which his heavily-braced right leg gave out.
Griffin originally injured his knee in Week 14 against the Ravens. After missing only one game, he returned for the final two weeks of the regular season and the playoff game against the Seahawks.
His career wasn’t the same after that. He started 13 games in 2013 and seven in 2014. By 2015, the team had put him in bubble wrap to avoid his injury-guaranteed fifth-year option for 2016, playing Kirk Cousins instead. Griffin then spent one year with the Browns and three with the Ravens before his NFL career ended.
It’s unclear whether the documentary will cover other aspects of Griffin’s time in Washington. His book would have apparently touched on a variety of topics, including (as he said in 2021) “my experience with sexual harassment in Washington,” adding in a video announcing the book: “I’m gonna open your eyes to the sexual harassment that permeated the walls of that building.”
Griffin later had “second thoughts” about the book project. His agent denied that the decision was influenced by any direct or indirect pressure from the team, the league, or Griffin’s employer at the time, ESPN.
Read the full article here
