Robert Griffin III is Ready to ‘Step Up and Fight’

“When adversity strikes, you respond in one of two ways: you step aside and give in or you step up and fight.” Those were the tweeted words of Washington Redskins’ star QB Robert Griffin III, a day removed from the team’s 24-14 playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Two days later, Griffin had total reconstructive knee surgery. Hindsight is 20/20. Whatever opinion one may have on how the situation was handled during Washington’s playoff game — it’s a no win argument.

Now, almost three months later, Griffin and the Washington Redskins are under the microscope. A pretty big microscope, if you ask  Dr. James Andrews who operated on Griffin’s two torn knee ligaments.

As told to ESPN, “He wants his recovery to be fairly private, but I can tell you he’s way ahead of schedule. His recovery has been unbelievable so far. RGIII is one those superhumans. First patient I ever had like that was Bo Jackson. And recently I, of course, had Adrian Peterson, who is also superhuman. They have an unbelievable ability to recover, whereas a normal human being may not be able to recover.”

So much for keeping things “fairly private…” And what exactly is “Superhuman?”

Overcoming adverse situations like major surgeries takes more than human or ‘super’ attributes. Dr. Andrews mentioned Bo Jackson, who had to overcome hip replacement surgery. Jackson went on to receive Major League Baseball’s Tony Conigliaro Award, among other honors. But the Tony Conigliaro Award suggests more accurate details on what it takes to ‘step up and fight’ against adversities, as RG3 may put it. The award is given to a player who best overcomes an obstacle and adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage.

Through spirit, a player musters enough faith to ‘step up and fight’ — displaying a courageous trait, because they are determined to reach their goals. That’s the way I see it.

Robert Griffin III is more than capable of returning to the football field better than he was prior to the injury. But most importantly, he will return as a smarter football player. It will take a collective effort, however, and Coach Mike Shanahan is well aware of it.

Shanahan has mentioned that Griffin must learn to slide in order to avoid big hits. He also knows the system needs to be tweaked. Much of the criticism revolved around the read-option plays is frankly unnecessary. Especially if you take into account that Griffin did not suffer his major injuries on designed runs his rookie season.

Griffin will learn from his mistakes. Shanahan and staff will too. Now, hopefully someone tells Dr. Andrews to stop creating havoc with his words.

In a text message to ESPN’s Trey Wingo, Griffin wrote: “My knee is getting better every day. The doctors say I’m ahead of schedule. My goal is to return healthy in week one but if I’m not ready then I will wait until I am, however long that is. My first NFL season and my injury that ended it showed me a lot about the league, my team and myself. I know where my responsibility is within the dilemma that led to me having surgery to repair my knee and all parties involved know their responsibilities as well. I’m looking forward to playing the game we all love so much again and not behind at the negative. Thanks for the overwhelming level of support that I’ve received, sic em bears and hail to the redskins!!”

For some athletes, it’s easy to take their words with a grain of salt. Griffin, on the other hand, is different. I had a chance to speak to receiver Joshua Morgan about Griffin, and one thing he expressed is that Griffin not only walks his talk — he runs with it. He’s not just talking out the side of his neck.

You don’t have to look far back to justify that statement either. In week 9, right before Washington’s bye week, the team suffered an embarrassing 21-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. It was Washington’s “homecoming game” and they played flat. The blame didn’t have to be casted on Griffin. He even took a blow to the body late in that game to try and give the team a spark. But he carried the loss on his shoulders — “I promise you I’ll come back [from the bye week] and I’ll be a better quarterback the second half of the season for us, for this team. And preferably, everybody comes back with the same mind-set.”

All Robert Griffin III did was come back in week 11, throwing four touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles. That triggered Washington’s seven game winning streak. The results from that statement and many others are why people take Griffin’s words seriously.

This guy will return to the football field ready to ‘step up and fight.’ There will be no sophomore slump with Robert Griffin III. 100% or not, you will see a smarter, stronger and even more determined quarterback

@Manny_PPI  @PlayerInsiders