The shame in this Robert Griffin III saga is that, before everything, before the draft and The Trade and the Offensive Rookie of The Year award, there was a likable, earnest football player who had electrifying talent and no reason to fear the world around him.
While that has been rapidly changing over the course of two disastrous seasons, nothing quite encapsulates the eye roll-worthy farce quite like Tuesday, when Griffin had to defend a "Like" on Instagram.
You heard right.
As the story goes, Griffin's official Instagram account "liked" a post from @xtramambosauce that, among other things, eviscerated ownership and the Redskins' organization for their mishandling of Griffin.
Griffin's "Like," which was treated as a complete endorsement of the tirade, was used as gasoline in a national firestorm that has engulfed the former star quarterback, who might never take another snap for the Redskins again.
And on top of all of this, he had to issue an apology, which blamed the intern that handles his social media accounts.
"I just wanted to set the record straight on this one. I did not 'like' that IG post ridiculing our team. I have not been social media active consistently for a while now and am ultra-focused on working to get back on the field and trying to help this team. One of our interns who helps with Instagram liked the post. As soon as I was made aware of it, it was immediately unliked. That is not how I feel and I appreciate your understanding. #HTTR"
In so many ways, this encompasses the unfortunate situation Griffin has found himself in. Regardless of who "Liked" the post, there should be so much more attention paid to a culture that led to the momentary downfall of a truly great player.
