There will be at least one former NFL quarterback on Team USA’s flag football team.
Robert Griffin III, a former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Pro Bowler, announced Thursday that he’s joining the United States’ national flag football team.
“The work is just getting started,” he wrote on his Twitter/X account. “Excited to work with my new teammates.”
Griffin was the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders after winning the Heisman Trophy at Baylor. He was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2012 before injuries derailed his career.
After his battles with injuries that derailed his 2013 and 2014 season, Griffin III lost his starting job in 2015 and never returned to being a full-time starting quarterback in the NFL. Griffin played for the Cleveland Browns in 2016 before a three-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens from 2018 to 2020.
While he has not been on a roster since the 2020 season, Griffin has still been training and said in 2022 that he was “ready to go.”
“I’m ready to go right now. Like I said, I train every day, throw, work out,” he said. “I know what it takes to get my body ready, and I’m doing those things. And yes, it’s a little bit tougher having to fly around everywhere and do all the 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’ll be ready to play.”
Griffin hasn’t been able to find his way onto an NFL roster, but he’ll now get the chance to compete once again. He said earlier this week that he plans to play with Team USA’s flag football squad at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Whether he has already earned an official spot on the Olympic team is unclear. NFL players will be allowed to compete in the Olympics, so Griffin would seemingly have to earn a spot on the roster over an NFL quarterback.
