ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Andrew Luck was the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft, selected by the Indianapolis Colts to succeed the great Peyton Manning.
But you would have thought it was Robert Griffin III based on the scene at Radio City Music Hall that night.
As Luck was being congratulated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the stage, the loud and boisterous crowd chanted, “RG3, RG3.”
Griffin — who won the Heisman Trophy over Luck — stole the show as he took the stage when his name was called, dressed in a light blue suit wearing burgundy and gold socks that proclaimed, “Go Catch Your Dream” while the photographers snapped pictures.
“Go catch that dream — because a lot of times when you chase something you never get to it,” Griffin told reporters. “So if you say, ’Hey, I’m going to go catch my dream,’ you’re already telling yourself that you’re going to get it.”
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Well, Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Luck will have the stage all to himself.
Robert Griffin’s dream has turned into a nightmare.
After two of the worst performances we’ve seen by any quarterback wearing a burgundy and gold jersey, Griffin has been benched for the Colts game Sunday in favor of Colt McCoy — the team’s third-string quarterback in training camp who said he didn’t even know if he would make the roster.
If that doesn’t teach Griffin a lesson in humility, I don’t know what will.
You would have thought undergoing a second knee surgery in four years like he did following his devastating injury in the Seattle playoff game two years ago would have humbled him, but he came out of that surgery and rehabilitation convinced he was running the Redskins franchise.
He used the injury in an Adidas campaign ad, “All in for Week 1.” He produced a documentary about himself, “RGIII — The Will to Win.” He declared during the 2013 training camp that coach Mike Shanahan would have to start him in Week 1, and spent the rest of the season battling with both Mike and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for control of the team.
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When the Shanahans were fired, Griffin had won, and let everyone know this was his team. He boasted that things would be different now — they would be doing things his way now.
“We decide what our identity is,” he told Comcast SportsNet in April. We’re going to play whatever kind of brand of football that we want to play, and that’s part of our movement, and we’re excited about presenting that to the fans this upcoming season.”
That was “the movement” — led by Griffin. He let everyone know who was in charge again in June in an interview with NFL.com.
“The Movement is an identity for us,” he said. “What’s going to be our identity? The Hogs had their identity. We’re not the Hogs. We’re a fast, explosive football team, both on offense and defense. So what brand of football are we going to play? Are we going to be a physical football team? Are we going to be a strong football team? And that’s for us to decide, and I think we’re deciding that right now.”
Well, I think “they” decided that they didn’t want “him” to be the quarterback anymore.
So now Griffin sits behind the third-string quarterback, a journeyman who was on his third team since 2010 and who was an afterthought when he was signed in April — or was he?
Was Colt McCoy Jay Gruden’s quarterback all along?
It was a strange signing, coming so early in April, committing to be the Redskins’ “third string” quarterback when he could have likely signed with other teams to be a backup.
McCoy didn’t call the Redskins — they called him.
“When they called me and said, ’Hey, we already have two quarterbacks but we would like for you to come here and compete,’” McCoy said after coming off the bench last month and leading Washington to a 19-17 win over Tennessee. “You never know what happens.”
You never know what happens?
McCoy revealed in that postgame press conference that he and Gruden have a relationship that goes back to the days McCoy was in Cleveland and Gruden was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. He also revealed that he and Gruden’s quarterback in Cincinnati, Andy Dalton, are friends. “I know Andy Dalton,” McCoy said. “I like the offense that he ran.”
If you want any glimpse into the Colt McCoy-Jay Gruden relationship, listen to what his brother Jon told ESPN radio Wednesday. “They probably want to see if Colt McCoy can improve as well,” he said. “I mean, they’ve got to find a quarterback. I don’t think it matters if you gave up three number ones or you gave up $780,000 in free agency: you have to find a quarterback that can win football games for you. Colt McCoy right now’s the best one they have.”
That’s a lot of Gruden family love for a journeyman third-string quarterback — which ultimately, despite his two wins over Tennessee and Dallas, is what he could turn out to be.
No one is more aware of that than Colt McCoy. “This league is very unforgiving,” he said after the Titans win.
If there is a lesson Robert Griffin III should learn, it is that one.
• Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 and espn980.com
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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