Redskins fans have perked up with Griffin
Santana Moss stopped into a gas station close to the Redskins practice facility last week and met a man who gushed about Moss’ team.
About one play by Moss’ team from last Sunday, to be precise.
“How about those Redskins?” Moss said the man asked him. “He didn’t even know I played. He was like, ‘Oh, man, I was there.’ I was like, ‘Yeah?’ He said, ‘It was a good one. That run, man, I haven’t seen nothing like that in a long time.’ ”
Try to forget the part of the story where a Redskins fan doesn’t recognize Moss, the longest-tenured player on the team. No one around these parts will forget “that run,” Robert Griffin III’s 76-yard TD that lifted the Redskins to a win over the Vikings and a 3-3 record heading into today’s meeting with the Giants.
Griffin has electrified one of the most loyal and most consistently disappointed fan bases in the NFL.
Through six games, Griffin hasn’t just cornered the commercial market – his ads for Subway and Gatorade are ubiquitous – he’s transformed an offense that has been looking for consistency and productivity since their last first-round quarterback pick, Jason Campbell, was supposed to transform things in 2005.
Griffin’s incredible ability is a little scarier for his own team than others: Whether his 4.3-second, 40-yard dash speed can hold up in the face of bigger, faster defenders than he saw in his four years at Baylor.
But the debate rages – can Griffin be aggressive and cautious at the same time?
“The fans and my teammates don’t want me to love the contact,” Griffin said this week. “I am a competitive guy, and I do not mind getting hit. But whenever I can shy away from contact, I am the quarterback of this team and they need me out there every play. It’s not a pride thing, it’s not (that) I’m a lesser man because I’m going to slide or run out of bounds, it’s just a matter of being smart.”
Saints make roster moves
The New Orleans Saints moved linebacker Jonathan Vilma to from the PUP list to the active roster, meaning he could play for the first time this season today at Tampa Bay. Tight end Jimmy Graham did not make the trip due to a sprained right ankle.