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RGIII won't close door on NFL return: 'I am ready to go right now'

David Becker / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Robert Griffin III isn't ruling out a potential return to the NFL.

"I am ready to go right now," the quarterback and ESPN analyst recently told Christopher Williams of KWTX. "I train every day. I throw and work out. I know what it takes to get my body ready, and I am doing those things.

"Yes, it is a little bit tougher when you are flying around everywhere doing stuff for TV, but when you really want something, you make it work. So, if I get that call this year, next year, or five years from now, I will be ready to play."

Griffin hasn't played since replacing Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in a start against the Pittsburgh Steelers in December 2020. The Ravens released him at the end of that season.

The 32-year-old then joined ESPN as a college football and NFL analyst.

"Sometimes we don't know that God has a calling for us in a certain area until we do it. This is something that has been natural for me," Griffin said of his transition to the broadcast booth. "Now, I just feel like it is on me and the people around me to continue to hold me accountable to be the guy that I know that I am. To be a storyteller. To tell guys' stories the right way. That is a big point of emphasis for me."

He added: "I still love to play, but right now I am just focused on doing the best as I can as a storyteller and giving back to football as much as I can."

Griffin said in May that multiple teams contacted him after he ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash in April.

The Baylor product took the NFL by storm after the Washington Redskins drafted him second overall in 2012, earning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. However, he couldn't replicate that success in the following years largely due to injuries, including a torn ACL sustained at the end of his rookie campaign.

The former Pro Bowler spent four seasons in Washington before enjoying stints with the Cleveland Browns (2016) and Ravens (2018-20).

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