Robert Griffin, III on returning to the NFL: “When that opportunity comes to play… then I’ll be back playing.”

Thanksgiving Day, 2012 was a huge turning point for then-rookie quarterback Robert Griffin, III - RGIII - and Washington. They were three and six and their head coach, Mike Shanahan, had already said the season was essentially over. Then Washington did something no one expected when they took on the Cowboys in Dallas. They won. 

“You go on Thanksgiving and you obliterate the Cowboys, which is America's team, and you go out and you do it in a way that no one’s ever seen it done before,” RGIII told In the Moment’s David Greene. “And that game helped us do it every week after that on the way to the postseason.”

Griffin was from Texas and had won the Heisman Trophy at Baylor University in Waco. When he showed up on that Thanksgiving, his friends, family and fans were in the stands cheering him on. 

“To see and hear the crowd at the end of the game, chanting a name that they had given me – RGIII –  that was born in college,” Griffin said. “That type of atmosphere literally raises the hair on your arms and on your back and makes you feel a certain type of way.” 

After finding fame early in the season, Griffin was dogged by injuries. He re-tore his ACL in a crucial wild card matchup against the Seahawks. 

“It was almost as if my leg was being ripped off and I crumbled immediately in that moment – crumbled to the ground,” Griffin recalled. 

Griffin is proud that he spent eight years in the NFL, even after that career-altering injury. He went on to play in Baltimore, and helped serve as a mentor to quarterback Lamar Jackson. 

And he says his football career isn’t necessarily over. 

“When that opportunity comes to play, if it’s the right opportunity and the right situation, then I’ll be back playing,” Griffin said.

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