Dear Robert Griffin III,
It did not end the way any of us thought it would.
Injuries kept piling up. The coaching staff changed. Stories started leaking out. Every press conference had a meaning. By the time your time in Washington was over the excitement had turned into tension and frustration. The relationship between you and the franchise felt strained. That is where many people’s memories stop, and it never felt fair.
Fans who grew up in the 90’s and 2000’s know what those years were like. We kept changing quarterbacks. Every spring we thought we had hope. It would disappear by midseason. We rarely had football in December. Many Sundays felt predictable in a way.
Then 2012 Happened
From the very beginning, you could tell it was going to be different. The offense moved fast with the confidence we had never seen. The read option was something we had never really seen in Washington before. Defenders would hesitate long enough for you to get ahead. Safeties would take angles. Linebackers would freeze. When you kept the ball and took off the whole stadium would react at once because something big seemed possible.
Your stats only tell part of the story. You had twenty passing touchdowns, eight hundred rushing yards, and twenty-seven touchdowns. You scored twenty-seven touchdowns. Add an NFC East title and a ten-win season. It was enough to award you the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
But the stats don’t matter. What matters is how you made an entire fanbase feel.
The 2012 season gave Redskins fans a new hope. It allowed younger fans to feel something they had never felt before: what it felt like to be a winner. It gave fans from older generations a feeling like they were back in the glory days in the 1980’s and early 90’s Redskins. For the first time in a long time, it made the franchise feel relevant again.
Your impact was on more than just the Redskins. Before the NFL fully accepted quarterbacks who could threaten defenses with their legs and arms you were already doing it. Today’s offenses are built around not only arm strength, but mobility. When you were doing this fifteen years ago, it was openly criticized by analysts. Now that style of play is embraced, and it has changed the league forever.
Seattle Changed Everything
The playoff game against Seattle is not a game I like to think about. Seeing you try to play through a knee that was not cooperating felt heroic and heartbreaking at the time. When it gave out, everything changed. It got uncomfortable for fans seeing a quarterback and coach at odds. Some criticisms may have been fair but there was a lot that was not. But lost in all the noise was the impact you made on the organization.
Fans still love to debate what happened. But you know it had an impact, because they are still talking about it. Some say the scheme should have changed sooner, and others debate that the injury affected more than anyone realized. Or maybe it was even the weight of being handed the keys to the kingdom at only twenty-two years old, which is no easy task to uphold.
What You Meant to Washington
Sep 10, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Former professional football players Robert Griffin III (right) and Joe Theismann (left) shake hands before the Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals game at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports
For once, children had a quarterback jersey they could proudly wear. Long-time fans had optimism again, and Sundays became something to look forward to. It was rare to wake up on a Sunday morning and feel confident that the Redskins would put up another one in the win column.
Although the end was messy, it does not erase what you meant to Washington. It does not rewrite what that season gave to people who had spent years lowering their expectations. One complicated chapter cannot undo a moment that brought an entire fan base back to life.
What gets lost over time is how rare 2012 truly was. That year was not simply a playoff run. It was not just a breakout rookie campaign. It was believed that returning to a city that had almost forgotten what it looked like on Sundays.
For fans who grew up during the long stretch of quarterback uncertainty, that season felt different in a way that is hard to explain to outsiders.
Analysts may debate what could have been, or what may have caused the fallout. But none of that changes the reality that 2012 stands as one of the most unforgettable years in Washington sports.
It was the first true jolt in nearly two decades. It reminded people why they cared in the first place.
That deserves to be remembered.
And you deserve credit for it.
Thank you.
Main Image: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports