{"id":9390,"date":"2016-03-25T08:04:58","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T15:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/act-ii-for-rg3-griffins-shot-to-reboot-career-with-browns\/"},"modified":"2016-03-25T08:04:58","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T15:04:58","slug":"act-ii-for-rg3-griffins-shot-to-reboot-career-with-browns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/act-ii-for-rg3-griffins-shot-to-reboot-career-with-browns\/","title":{"rendered":"Act II for RG3: Griffin’s shot to reboot career with Browns"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014<\/strong> Back before he rocketed into the NFL as a freakish touchdown-maker, before the knee injury and his downfall in Washington, Robert Griffin III was convinced he\u2019d play for the Browns.<\/p>\n

During pre-draft workouts in Arizona, Griffin and his agent were set for Cleveland to be his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were ready then,\u201d Griffin said, \u201cand we are more than ready now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four long, trying years later, Griffin has a chance to revive a career that once seemed unstoppable.<\/p>\n

No longer viewed as one of football\u2019s brightest and flashiest players but rather a reclamation project, Griffin signed a two-year, $15 million contract Thursday with the Browns, a team on a perpetual mission to find a franchise quarterback.<\/p>\n

RG3 is beginning his second act.<\/p>\n

Griffin hasn\u2019t been the same since his dazzling rookie season in Washington in 2012, when the former Heisman Trophy winner \u2014 possessed with a rocket arm, a tailback\u2019s speed and endless swagger \u2014 took the league by storm. However, his next three seasons were curtailed by injury and clouded by controversy and the 26-year-old found himself without a team when Washington released him March 7.<\/p>\n

The Browns, who tried unsuccessfully to trade so they could draft him in 2012, are giving him another shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just excited to come in and compete,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cNothing\u2019s ever been given to me in my life, so I just want to go out and compete with the guys and grow with this team. I feel like that\u2019s all I\u2019m really focused on. I cherish the opportunity to get another chance to play this beautiful game.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been given no promises by the Browns, who have the No. 2 overall pick in this year\u2019s draft and are expected to take a quarterback \u2014 presumably California\u2019s Jared Goff or North Dakota State\u2019s Carson Wentz. As the team was completing its deal with Griffin, new coach Hue Jackson attended Wentz\u2019s pro day workout in North Dakota along with offensive assistant Pep Hamilton.<\/p>\n

Griffin, who didn\u2019t play a single snap and was demoted to third-string last season, isn\u2019t opposed to the Browns drafting another quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take the guy under my wing,\u201d he said during a conference call. \u201cI\u2019m real excited about that. I\u2019m considered a vet now after four years in the league, and I\u2019ve been through a lot more than a lot of guys go through their entire career. … I can help a young guy. But that\u2019s not my focus. I don\u2019t pick players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson has spent much of his coaching career grooming quarterbacks. He met with Griffin last week and was impressed by his candor and humility.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings starting experience to our team and organization,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cHe\u2019s a young, athletic, talented passer and he\u2019s really just starting out in this league. Just like every player on our team, Robert will have to earn every opportunity he gets.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he can win the starting job, Griffin could be reunited with former college teammate Josh Gordon, who has applied for reinstatement with the league following a one-year drug suspension. The thought of playing with Gordon excites Griffin.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh is family,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cI love the guy. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen with him and the league or with the team, but he always knows he has a brother in me, so if the opportunity comes that he can get reinstated and play for the Browns then I won\u2019t be upset with that. He is family and at Baylor we believe that no matter what happens we\u2019ve always got your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland has started 24 quarterbacks since 1999, but few of them have the resume \u2014 or talent \u2014 to match Griffin.<\/p>\n

The Browns recently released troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel, once considered the team\u2019s savior. They also have quarterbacks Josh McCown and Austin Davis under contract. But, as is always the case with that position in Cleveland, nothing stands still.<\/p>\n

After leading the Redskins to the NFC East title as a rookie, Griffin, who had become one of America\u2019s most celebrated athletes, began a striking fall from grace. He seriously injured to his right knee in the playoffs and needed reconstructive surgery. His next two seasons were filled with squabbles with coaches and little else.<\/p>\n

Griffin spent last season watching from the sideline, where he learned more about life than anything he could find in a playbook. He set out to restore his name \u2014 and image \u2014 with the hope there would be a next chance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now in his hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I learned most was just the love that\u2019s inside of me for this game of football,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat happened down there (in Washington) would break a lot of people. This is my calling. I\u2019m real excited to have another opportunity to grow with a coach who believes in me. That\u2019s big. Now I\u2019ve just got to go out and prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 Back before he rocketed into the NFL as a freakish touchdown-maker, before the knee injury and his downfall in Washington, Robert Griffin III was convinced he\u2019d play for the Browns. During pre-draft workouts in Arizona, Griffin and his agent were set for Cleveland to be his home. \u201cWe were ready then,\u201d Griffin said, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":9391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-9390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9390"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=9390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}