Robert Griffin III is at a crossroads as he enters his fourth season in the NFL.
Many believe the Griffin who stormed the NFL as a rookie is gone forever; a serious knee injury and two years of struggles derailing a hugely promising career. But Griffin remains confident as he begins what might be his last chance to convince the Redskins he's the answer.
"I don't feel like I have to come out here and show anybody anything or why I'm better than this guy or better than that guy," Griffin told Alex Parker of WJLA. "It's more about going out and affirming that for me, I go out and I play, I know I'm the best quarterback on this team. I feel like I'm the best quarterback in the league and I have to go out and show that."
"Any athlete at any level, if they concede to someone else, they're not a top competitor, they're not trying to be the best that they can be. There's guys in this league that have done way more than me. But, I still view myself as the best because that's what I work toward every single day."
Griffin's self-belief can easily be taken -- and reported on -- as a supreme case of misplaced confidence. The quarterback concedes the years of criticism, both as a player and as a teammate, have changed how he views his profession.
"It's not the game you thought it was when you were a kid and you were dreaming of playing and being a professional athlete," Griffin said. "There's more business that goes into it, there's more ruthlessness, backstabbing than you would expect. But at the end of the day when you put your helmet on your shoulder pads and your pants, your cleats and you get to go out there and run around on the field, it's still that same game that you played as a kid."
Telling comments from a player who, lest we forget, beat out Andrew Luck for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2012. Back then, it wasn't crazy to believe Griffin would become the best quarterback in football. The difference now is that, while the rest of us have moved on, Griffin still believes.
