Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Bowl quarterback Robert Griffin III joined ESPN in 2021 as a college football and NFL analyst. He calls weekly college games on ESPN/ABC and travels to the site of ESPN’s Monday Night Football games as a member of the Monday Night Countdown pregame show. A contributor to ESPN’s year-round coverage, Griffin has a presence at the sport’s biggest events, including the Super Bowl, College Football Playoff, Pro Bowl, NFL Draft and Heisman Trophy Ceremony. 

Griffin joined Monday Night Countdown during the 2022 season, adding weekly NFL responsibilities to his role as a college football game-caller. Paired with veteran play-by-play voice Mark Jones on college games, the crew has been widely praised for its chemistry while Sports Illustrated labelled Griffin “ESPN’s Next Big Star” in 2022. 

An All-American track star in college, Griffin has also served as an analyst during ESPN’s presentation of the NCAA Track & Field Championships. 

Griffin played eight NFL seasons with Washington (2012-15), the Cleveland Browns (2016) and the Baltimore Ravens (2018-20). The No. 2 overall pick of the Washington Football Team in the 2012 NFL Draft, he threw for 9,271 yards and 43 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,809 yards and 10 scores.  

Griffin’s best pro season was when he burst on the NFL scene as a rookie, throwing for 3,200 yards and 20 touchdowns with 815 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a 2013 Pro Bowl selection, Griffin helped Washington go from 5-11 the previous year to 10-6 after a seven-game win streak clinched the NFC East division title for the first time since 1999 and earned Washington its first playoff appearance since 2007. Griffin also set records at the time for highest passer rating (102.4) by a rookie quarterback, highest touchdown to interception ratio (4:1) by a rookie quarterback, and injected life into the nation’s capital.  

In college, Griffin was a once-in-a-generation talent at Baylor University where he set or tied 54 school records from 2008-11. A three-year starter, Griffin threw for 10,366 yards and 78 touchdowns while rushing for 2,254 yards and 33 TDs during his 41-game collegiate career. His best season was 2011 when he captured the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O’Brien and Manning Awards, along with other National Player of the Year honors after amassing 4,293 passing yards and 37 passing touchdowns to go along with 699 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. He was the face of the Baylor program that finished 10-3, won its first bowl game in 19 years and earned a final national ranking of 12.  

In 2014, Baylor unveiled a bronze statue of Griffin outside McLane Stadium in Waco. Arguably the fastest quarterback in college football history, Griffin was also a world-class hurdler who competed for the Baylor Track and Field team, winning the Big 12 Championship title (in a career-best 49.22 – third-best in Baylor history), a bronze medal at the NCAA Championships, and placing 11th at the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 400m hurdles. 

Griffin, who graduated from Baylor with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, was born in Okinawa, Japan, where his parents – both U.S. Army sergeants – were stationed. After stops in Tacoma, Wash., and New Orleans, they eventually settled in Copperas Cove, Texas, where Griffin attended high school. 

Griffin remains very involved in philanthropic work through his RGIII Foundation, which helps underprivileged youth, military families and victims of domestic violence. In December 2022, the foundation gave a one-day shopping spree for 25 Boys & Girls Clubs members in his hometown of Copperas Cove. The foundation also donated 10,500 meals to the North Texas Food Bank in February 2021. 

-30-