Redskins draft Griffin with No. 2 overall pick
ASHBURN — His era started with a song. Shortly after he was drafted, in his first meeting as a Redskin with the Washington media, Robert Griffin III broke out in a song — one that should please his new constituents.
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“Hail to the Redskins! Hail victory!” Griffin sang into the phone, before ending his solo because, well, he still hasn’t learned the rest of the words.
Now let the fun begin. That’s what the Redskins — and their starving fan base — are hoping will happen now that the Baylor quarterback is finally part of their franchise. They traded four picks — first-rounders this season as well as the next two, plus this year’s second-rounder — to acquire the No. 2 overall pick from St. Louis.
“I’m real excited,” Griffin said. “A team finally fell in love with me that wants me for who I am. I can’t wait to go play for them.”
All along Griffin was the main target, with Indianapolis targeting Andrew Luck, whom they eventually took No. 1.
“We had a feeling Robert would be the guy we would get,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. “Just to be around the guy and see what a class act he is and see what type of charisma he has. He’ll bring a lot to the organization. You’re always looking for that franchise guy. He has everything you look for in a quarterback. Hopefully we can get the supporting cast around him and give him a chance to do some special things.”
Griffin developed at Baylor from a quarterback who wanted to run as much, or more, as he did pass to one who was considered a passer first. He rushed for 843 yards as a freshman while throwing for 2,091 yards. As a senior, he rushed for 699 yards and threw for 4,293 en route to the Heisman Trophy.
He’ll join an organization that hasn’t had a franchise-type quarterback since Joe Theismann in the early to mid-1980s. Since then, there has been a steady parade of quarterbacks.
“I’ve seen the many quarterbacks that they’ve gone through,” Griffin said. “I’m glad the organization and the coaching staff bought into drafting a younger quarterback, trying to make him the franchise quarterback and growing with him.”
But both Griffin and Shanahan said it’s not just on him.
“It’s up to me to give him the right supporting cast and that he feels comfortable,” Shanahan said. “It won’t happen overnight. It just doesn’t happen like that. But I know he’ll go 100 miles an hour, and he’ll be a sponge, and he wants to be the guy. ”
In fact, Griffin said he planned to savor the moment Thursday night, fly to Washington at some point Friday and then: “We’re ready to roll,” he said.
And he’ll finish another task: the fight song.
“I’ll learn the rest,” he said, “and I’ll sing it for you all soon.”
