RG III Hype Out of Control Already
Added on May 07, 2012 by Scott in
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It goes without saying that the Redskins faithful is starved for a winning, championship caliber team. The once proud franchise has only four playoff appearances in the last twenty years and hasn’t won more than ten games in a season since 1991. So, naturally the hype surrounding number two overall draft pick Robert Griffin III is already off the charts in the nation’s capital.
As if the pressure on the Heisman Trophy winner isn’t massive enough, now the local sports writers are resorting to hyperbole to describe a quarterback yet to throw a pass in a pro game.
“It didn’t take long to figure this out: Robert Griffin III will be the Washington Redskins’ best quarterback since Sonny Jurgensen,” [Rick] Snider writes.
A ridiculous statement to write for sure, but the sight of a tall rookie with obvious talent can easily cloud the judgments of people accustomed to watching the likes of Jason Campbell, Rex Grossman, John Beck and a washed-up Donovan McNabb in recent years. By comparison, RG III must look like a Hall of Famer.
That being said, Griffin hasn’t earned a thing in the NFL, except a high draft ranking and a promised starting gig from head coach Mike Shanahan. Mentioning him in the same category as Sonny Jurgensen or Joe Theismann or Doug Williams makes a great headline, but it’s nothing more than easily attacked fodder.
It’s the Cam Newton effect. Very few, if any, pigskin pundits thought Newton was prepared to step under center during Week 1 of last year. 422 yards and three total touchdowns later and the naysayers were quickly changing their tunes. Truth be told, nobody knows anything when it comes to predicting a player’s career path.
Once upon a time, the Chargers believed they had themselves a franchise signal-caller named Ryan Leaf. The Texans had David Carr. The Raiders had JaMarcus Russell. It’s not fair to lump Griffin into the list of cautionary tales, but it’s also not fair to compare the kid to a legend.
Source: NFL.com
