Teams are going to try to hit me because they think I can't take a hit. I think I've proven over my career that I can.
— Robert Griffin III
There's something about football that's exciting. The defense is trying to shut you down and you're trying to blow people up.
People would say I'm more polished as a passer than Tebow and Cam, but I'm not as physical a runner. But I am 6'2', 223, and I can throw with the best of them.
Every time I step out on that field, I'm 100 percent. My teammates know that. They know what I'm out there dealing with. I know what I'm out there dealing with. But when it comes to my mindset, I'm 100 percent.
I try to associate myself as just being myself - and being a person, an American citizen, going out there every day and just trying to be successful.
It's always a lot more fun as a quarterback if you can do things you don't normally get to do. So if I can catch a pass and make a play for the team, that's what I'm willing to do.
Man, I love the 'Lord of the Rings' movies. Some people would say I'm weird for liking those types of movies, but they are so cool.
I try to keep my confidence on the charts, but I'm a confident guy as well. You've got to be that way. If you don't think that you're the best, then you won't perform that way.
Football is football and talent is talent. But the mindset of your team makes all the difference.
It's not about talent once you get to the NFL because everyone's got it. It's about being willing to go that extra mile to be the best and that's something that I've always done.
There's far more that goes into being a professional athlete than being a college athlete. So many differences that people don't realize. It's not just about playing football and getting paid to do it. There's a lot of things that you have to deal with.
I know I'm the No. 1 quarterback for the Washington Redskins, and that's all that matters in my heart. That's all I wanted. I wanted a team that wanted me, and I found that.
I hope somebody falls in love with me - other than my fiancee. But that's what you want. As a player you want a team that really wants you; head coach, GM, owner, everybody that really wants you in their place and the players believe in you. I'm looking forward to making somebody fall in love with me.
My job is to build that belief in every coach and every owner, that they can put the franchise in my hands and I can take it uphill from there. Obviously, everyone wants to be No. 1, but I'm not going to campaign. I'm just going to go out and show what I've got.
I was a freshman All-American, and I tore my ACL in the third game. But God has a plan for everything. I had a chance to turn away from Him in that situation or draw closer to Him. I decided to draw closer to Him, and came back stronger from it.
Hard work pays off - hard work beats talent any day, but if you're talented and work hard, it's hard to be beat.
I don't play too much into the color game, because I don't want to be the best African American quarterback, I want to be the best quarterback.
You don't have to go out there and fit the mold of what a quarterback is supposed to be. Make your own mold and do the best at each role. If you can run with the best and throw with the best, you can be the best quarterback in your own version of the position.
Respect talent. Get respect where respect is due, but don't be caught up in yourself where you do things obliviously and not pay attention to what is going on.
I wasn't a rebel. It kind of clicked in my head, like, if I want to do this, I can go out and do it. Some kids, it clicks for them, and it doesn't work out. But thank God for me it did work out. I put in all those hard hours of work, and it has gotten me to where I am.
Sometimes people think it's what you say when you're in a huge group that makes you a leader. But sometimes it's the one-on-one conversations you have with guys individually, just getting to know them. I think I've done that a lot. Not intentionally - it just happens.
My parents raised me to not ever look at race or color, so it doesn't have a big part in my self-identity.
You can say whatever you want; it doesn't matter. It doesn't faze me. I'll still go out and do what I have to do, whether that's making A's in the classroom or doing well on the field.
Every time you step on the football field in between those lines you're putting your life, your career, every single ligament in your body in jeopardy.
I'm a military kid, both parents in the military - Mom did 12 years, Dad did 21, served in two wars. So discipline is something that was huge.
I think if you're a good high school player that you have the ability to be a good college football player. If you're a good college football then you have the ability to be a great NFL player.
You can be a catalyst for change but change never really entirely happens just because of one guy.
To me, it's not necessarily about whom you vote for, it's more about the fact that you go out and exercise that right. There's a lot of people who fight for our right to vote and people in other countries fighting for other peoples' right to vote and I think everyone should exercise that vote.
You won't see me taking it easy on the Cowboys because I'm from Texas, you won't see me cheering for the Cowboys because I'm from Texas. I'll be a Redskin, through and through.
Whatever team you go to, you want to have guys who help you be successful there.
For me, a quarterback's best friend, especially a young quarterback's best friend, is a coach who believes in him.
Making it to the NFL is a huge accomplishment. Making it in the NFL is a huge accomplishment, but I haven't done that yet. No matter how many games we've played, it's still hard to figure out when you've made it in the NFL.
Whenever you can relate to the population of the team that you play for, I think it makes it that much more special.
If you're out there stressing on your pro day, then you're not going to perform well, so I plan on having a little fun. Play a little music while we're out there throwing the football, have everybody tapping their toes and bobbing their head and just go out there and make the most of the experience.
As long as I can run fast, track will always be an option. But right now I'm focused on football because the NFL is knocking on my door and I'm not going to slam it in its face.
The day I think about throwing the ball away at the beginning of a play, I should stop playing.
You always give credit where credit is due - to high school coaches, college coaches - but my dad, the foundation that he built with me, is where all of this came from. The speed, the determination, the mindset, just the natural belief that you can do anything you put your mind to, it all comes from my dad.
I grew up in the military. I've lived that life. I know that our soldiers are out there fighting for our right to vote, and they're out there fighting for other countries' rights to vote... Guys have been dying for it, and we have to go out and exercise it.
One thing my dad always told me, was he would make sure I always had what he didn't have. He couldn't play basketball because he didn't have tennis shoes - so I had five pairs of tennis shoes.
I like to think I'm pretty smart with what I was able to do academically, but whenever I get on the field I turn into the Incredible Hulk and I am unstoppable.
As a quarterback, obviously, you're going to be put in the forefront whether you like it or not, and if you're not then you're not doing your job.
There's just a misconception that comes with being a dual-threat quarterback. You run first, throw second. I've proven I throw first and then run if I have to.
You know, I started this process of being a football player and I'm going to make it to the NFL very soon and I plan on finishing that. And by 'finishing that,' I mean that I'm going to go out and be the best that I can be and put everything forth to make that happen.
It's not something to complain about, but just the major difference between college and the pros is that in college you're guaranteed four to five years so long as you don't do anything criminally and in the pros you're guaranteed one day because you can be cut the next.
There's a couple things you don't talk about in life, and that's race, religion and politics. I try to make sure I don't talk about politics at all.
If you say you're going to do something, you do it. If you start it, you finish it. Yes sir, no ma'am. And you've got to have that kind of structure in your life. It kind of helped me be that disciplined person that I am, whether it's with workouts, film or just the game of football.
I hate to talk about myself like that, but if I had to straight up tell a head coach or an owner why they should take me, it's because I'm the best in everything I've done.
My parents did a great job raising me and my two sisters. We all graduated from high school and we all graduated from college. So, to be a good representative of my family is probably my greatest accomplishment thus far.
I don't do too much outside of football during football season, because this is my job and I take it seriously. I don't do too much, don't really go out at all that much, don't eat out or anything, try to stay focused and stay to myself.
Whoever I can go out every week and motivate to do better and to try to go after their dreams, I'm up for that.
