Robert Griffin III reveals football return after Browns links as fans warn he’ll be ‘humbled’
Robert Griffin III wants to represent Team USA at LA 2028.
The former NFL star turned analyst watched Tom Brady‘s Fanatics Flag Football Classic in Los Angeles.
A team of flag specialists dominated the tournament, going 3-0 against rosters packed with pro talent.
But Griffin III threw his hand in the mix for when the Olympics hit the West Coast in two years.
“Proud and honored to announce that I will be going for Gold in Flag Football with the USA National Team in 2028,” Griffin said. “The journey starts now and there is no greater honor than wearing USA across your chest and representing something more than yourself.”
Griffin will be 38 by the time the Games roll round and he did not specify if he was looking for a playing or coaching role.
If it is the former, he faces an uphill struggle.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was one of the NFL stars humbled by their flag rivals Saturday and is also keen on a spot.
“I’ve always wanted to play in the Olympics,”he said. “I’ve never necessarily played an Olympic sport before, so when this got announced, I was pretty excited about it.
“The opportunity to win a gold medal [is] something that I’ve thought about – a moment like that – for a long time, since I was a kid. I think it would be something very special.”
Team USA quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette III has always insisted that flag football players should have the honor, claiming they are better suited to the sport having been crowned world champions.
After being named MVP in Los Angeles, the passer backed up his case on the field.
His Team USA went 3-0 against the hand-picked teams of current and former NFL players, led by Burrow, Brady, Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels.
Their combined score sat at 106-44.
Burrow and Daniels’ were hammered 39-14 in the opening game.
Brady, who has also refused to rule out playing in Los Angeles, rolled back the years to skip away from pressure and find Stefon Diggs for a touchdown to get his Founders out into a lead.
But despite also having another former Super Bowl MVP on board, Team USA put up 24 unanswered in 43-16 win.
The Wildcats lost the championship game 24-14.
“Those guys that we competed against, they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into,” Doucette said. “They just thought that they were going to come out and play. But I think we gained a lot of respect from those guys.”
Griffin won the Heisman trophy to enter the NFL with the second overall pick in 2012.
But a severe knee injury derailed his time with the Washington Redskins and he lost his job to Kirk Cousins.
He won a four-man quarterback competition with the Cleveland Browns in 2016, but was released after more injury troubles.
After being waived by the Baltimore Ravens in 2021, he joined ESPN but has kept the door open to a return.
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The analyst had a clause in his contract allowing him to return and has since been released by the network.
In 2024, Griffin discussed returning to Cleveland after Deshaun Watson’s injury.
Fans don’t think he has what it takes to dethrone the flag football stars.
One asked: “Did you see what the flag football team did to the NFL players today?”
“They literally don’t need you or any NFL players. They humbled the NFL guys today. It wasn’t even close,” added another.
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