Report: RG3 demanded changes to playbook after 1st year with Redskins
More details of Robert Griffin III's turbulent tenure with the Washington Redskins have emerged, including the notion he demanded major changes be made to the playbook after his rookie year.
In an article published Wednesday, The Undefeated's Jason Reid explores the circumstances leading up to the quarterback's departure from the Redskins.
Following his prolific rookie season in which he captured Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, Griffin called a meeting with the Redskins' coaching staff, requesting 19 plays be removed from the team's offensive playbook. Griffin contended that he was being used like a running back, and wanted more plays that allowed him to stay in the pocket.
"He had to have the full support of the owner and, in my opinion, the general manager to even have a conversation like that. He just had the best year for a rookie QB in the history of the game," Mike Shanahan, the Redskins head coach from 2010-13 said of Griffin. "You got selected to the Pro Bowl. We went to the playoffs. We tried to get him to slide. We tried to get him to throw the ball away. If he had told me he was hurt, I would have taken him out of the (playoff) game. To hear him … it was really incredible."
Shanahan blamed Redskins owner Dan Snyder for the meeting.
"I said to Dan, 'Do you realize what you’re doing to this kid?"
Griffin and Shanahan's raucous working relationship has been well documented, and the former Redskins head coach recounted a pre-draft party where he expressed he wasn't enamored by the team's decision to trade up for the second overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.
"Dan knew I wasn't very happy about what we did, but he wanted everybody to celebrate how smart we were, so we jumped on his plane and met the other owners on his yacht," Shanahan said. "Everyone was celebrating. I just didn't think it was very smart to give up that much for a guy who we didn't even know if he could drop back and throw.
"When I finally sat down with Dan, I said, 'Hey, you own the team. We can work with him and do some things. But we haven't seen anything on tape that warrants giving (up) this type of compensation.' To me, it was absolutely crazy. But I told Dan that if that's what he wanted to do, I'd make it work."
After two poor seasons with the Redskins in 2013-14, Griffin was eventually relegated to the bench in favor of Kirk Cousins. Cousins excelled in 2015, leading the NFL in completion percentage, while Griffin toiled on the sidelines.
Griffin found work with the Cleveland Browns and is projected to start entering the 2016 season following a messy and now public divorce from the nation's capital.