The Significance of the RGIII Injury

On December 9th, Robert Griffin III, the face and future of the Washington Redskins, scrambled out of the pocket as he so often does. As he came back towards the middle of the field, he was slowed down in an attempted arm tackle by Ravens defender Paul Kruger. As Griffin seemingly attempted to go down following the contact with Kruger, 330 lb. lineman Haloti Ngata came from the other side to knock down Griffin. He ended up plowing full speed into Griffin's right leg, snapping it backwards in gruesome fashion. The man known simply as RGIII was in clear pain, as he hopped around on one leg and stuck around on the field for a few more plays, ultimately yielding his duties to backup and fellow rookie Kirk Cousins. The city of Washington DC held their collective breath. This injury looked real bad, and could have been worse, as Griffin escaped serious injury and was diagnosed with only a sprain of his LCL.

Fast forward to January 6th, equipped with a brace around his injured knee, Griffin took the field in Washington to take on the Seahawks as the NFC East champions in the wild card round of the 2012 playoffs. It was the 'Skins first division title since 1999, and it was due in large part to the outstanding play of their rookie signal caller. There was no way Griffin was going to miss this game, or as we would learn later, no way he would come out either. On the second drive of the game, Griffin went down out of bounds and stayed down for a few seconds before popping back up and limping to the huddle. Two plays later, he would find Logan Paulsen in the endzone to put his squad up 14-0. But he was clearly hampered again by that bum knee.

After a furious comeback by Seattle, and a further inability of Griffin to do much of anything on one leg, the Seahawks put themselves up 21-14 with 7 minutes to play. On the very next drive, Griffin tried to field a low snap and in his attempts, that same knee buckled underneath him and sent him to the ground writhing in pain. Once again, the city of Washington was holding their breath, only this time the whole country did so as well. At the end of the day, Griffin had suffered a torn ACL and LCL and will be out a minimum of 6-8 months and will be forced to endure a brutal rehab.

This injury scare is so significant because everyone loves RGIII. Not only those in DC, but every NFL fan and just about every American. Even NFL veterans are taken aback by Griffin and his presence. He's a young, charismatic, and bright man who has shown no signs of being a punk or a troublemaker. He jokes with the media, he loves his fans, and he seemingly always says and does the right thing. Not in a long, long time has someone been so revered by everyone the way RGIII is. All of that is said without even mentioning the quality of his play.

He came out nowhere at Baylor last year to steal the Heisman from Andrew Luck, and catapulted himself into the hearts of football fans everywhere. He was then taken second overall by the Skins, who traded everything but the kitchen sink to move up to get him, and it certainly paid off so far. He's so dynamic that you'd think he was created in Madden. He has the pocket presence of a veteran QB, he's faster than Michael Vick in his prime, and he can throw it 60 yards from his back foot. He's a potpourri of everything you want in a QB.

But its this dynamic play that can get him in trouble. When things break down, he can scramble and beat just about anyone in the league in a footrace. Unfortunately for him, someone will eventually catch up, and take him down. In week 5, after failing to get out of bounds and trying to extend a play, Griffin was popped by Sean Weatherspoon and suffered a mild concussion, forcing him out of that weeks action early. All was well until the initial knee injury, which came on another scramble.

You have to wonder if Griffin needs to tone down his dynamism, and stick to being the next great pocket passer. But I can't say I blame Griffin. When you know you're more physically gifted than anyone on the field, and you can use your legs to bail you out, it'd be extremely hard to ignore that temptation. If, fingers crossed, Griffin can come back in similar fashion to Adrian Peterson and be fully healthy upon Week 1 next season, it'll be interesting to see just what, if anything, Griffin does to keep himself healthier. It wouldn't be as fun for us as viewers to have to watch RGIII minus his elusiveness and creativity, but if it means staying on the field longer, then I'm all for it. As he's shown, he's fully capable of being an ultra-efficient passer, so he might be forced to heed some advice and stay in the pocket more.

Regardless of the adjustments Griffin makes to his game, we can only hope that he does come back healthy to live a long and successful NFL career, because that's the most important part. It would be a shame to see one of the games youngest and brightest stars stripped of a promising career because of another horrific injury. Not only do the Redskins need Griffin, but the NFL needs Griffin too.