Originally Posted by KC Tattoo (Post 10285795)

I bet Johnny Football gets benched in the NFL.


Hog Farmer won't be pleased.

Originally Posted by Rausch (Post 10285697)

And apparently the Rat was right.

Anyone can see RG3 isn't what he was. If he really is healthy he's done...

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 10284087)

If that were the case I'd agree that Michael Irvin is full of shit.

It's not been the case. Many commentators and fans are making this oddly personal with RGIII. They are saying he's a me-first diva. Prior to his struggles he was seen as a great teammate and a team-first guy. The moment he started to struggle, people suddenly started calling him a prima-donna.

I don't think he's changed as a person. He was considered a warrior and a leader when he was playing well. Suddenly his character's being called into question when he's struggling.

It's strange and it's not something you see happen in the media for most guys. When Cassel was awful, people weren't calling him an entitled shitheel. That's what people are doing with RGIII and I don't think it's even remotely fair; that's not been who he's been as a person or player throughout his college career and it isn't who he was last year when he was playing well.

Again - the root cause is that he's playing like shit, but lots of guys play like shit without having attacks on their character. I think the media has largely taken an oddly venomous approach to RGIII this season and I think it's definitely fair to question why.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 10284102)

He started playing better. The rumblings about tattoos and immaturity started early on in the season. When he started playing well and they started winning, the whispers disappeared.

Like I said, this isn't straight up racism; had RGIII kept playing well we wouldn't have heard this. I just find it a little unsettling that most of the time a young, black QB starts to struggle, the immediate issue becomes one a 'diva' attitude and an unwillingness to lead. There have been loads of shitty QBs in this league and they didn't take these arrows. Someone mentioned Cutler - he wasn't getting blasted as a lousy leader until a little later in his career; his early struggles were simply the struggles of a young QB.

Others have mentioned Geno - the difference between those 2 is that the "Geno is a shitty leader" narrative has been largely played out; it was the focus of the draft leadup. And with Geno, there is actually some track record to suggest that Geno was a mediocre/poor leader in his years at WVU. Those were surfacing even when he was playing well.

Every single report around RGIII from college through last season was what a great person and leader he was. Suddenly when he's struggling it's not growing pains, it's a lack of personal character and accountability despite 5+ years of high level football that suggest otherwise.

That should make one take pause.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 10284110)

And that's certainly a fair possibility. Members of the media are often hypercritical of guys they once fawned over; it's almost as though they're bitter about being made look a fool. It could also be overcompensating. Guys like Rick Riley, Tom Jackson and Bob Costas are the worst about this sort of thing; the bloviating asswipes that feel 'betrayed'. The PED stuff was the worst display of that you'll ever see.

Maybe there is something to the media types overcompensating for 'buying in' to the RGIII legend in 2012. Like I said, there may be some other explanations for it. But it's worth having the conversation - dismissing it out of hand is willfully ignorant. It suggests that RGIII's struggles have been treated the same as any other young QBs and I simply don't see how you can view what's gone on and believe that to be true.

I can't claim omniscience here; I can't read these guys minds. But the vitriol being tossed RGIIIs way is deserving of suspicion and I have no problem with Michael Irvin wondering aloud why that may be the case.

Originally Posted by Pestilence (Post 10284809)

He's not talking strictly about the benching. He's talking about the way that the media is now basically attacking RG3 and coming up with bullshit about his ego and how he's a drama queen.

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990 (Post 10284837)

Honestly they say this about alot of highly touted QBs who struggle. Jeff George, Ryan Leaf to name a few.
Posted via Mobile Device

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins (Post 10289449)

Two of the biggest assholes to ever sully professional sports doesn't seem like an overly fair comparison to Griffin.

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale (Post 10283796)

You know Cam?

Oh, right... you know what is reported about him. Cam was a young QB. He has to grow. The point is that this narrative seems to be saved exclusively for QB's who fit a certain criteria.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 10283735)

I hate hate hate the race card in QB discussions.

But I've found the treatmentof RGIII to be dubious at best, to be honest. There have been a handful of times where I've flipped to an analysis of Griffin without hearing the beginning of the conversation and could tell immediately it was him they were talking about because of the kind of vaguely dismissive language they used.

I mean they tend to stop short of saying 'boy', but it sure gets close at times.

My first reaction is always to dismiss this kind of bitching. And I agree he wouldn't be getting treated like this if he was performing better - his poor play is the root cause of the issue. But I do think there is some truth to the fact that he's getting a little more of the 'this kid needs to learn his place and shut up' treatment because he's a black QB. Wilson isn't getting crap because he's a minority that's playing extremely well. But I do wonder if a guy like Luck or Tannehill would be taking these kinds of arrows had they struggled like RGIII has. Tannehill's locker room has been a complete cluster!@#$ and we don't hear people blasting his leadership.

In this particular instance, I do think it's fair to ask if there haven't been some racial overtones to some of the things said about RGIII. Is that why he was benched? Nah, I don't think Shanahan's a racist. But I do think his PR has been disproportionally negative because of it.