Robert Griffin III was just named named 2011 Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year. The award is given to the student athlete that “displays an extraordinary degree of sportsmanship and/or community service during the academic year.”
On top of being the first Heisman Trophy winner in Baylor history, Griffin has been setting the standard off the field for even longer. According to the Big 12’s Press Release about the awards, on top of being an ambassador for the entire school, Griffin, “was also a Special Olympics volunteer and served at Friends for Life, a daycare for mentally-challenged individuals. He has also volunteer and spoke at many local schools. Other community service projects include Santa’s Workshop, Food for Families and greeting new students for the Baylor admissions office during the annual on-campus celebration of Dia del Oso.”
The release goes on to state that, “The two-time Academic All-District VI selection and two-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team honoree was an eight-time member of the Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He was named to the Dean’s List three times while earning his bachelor’s degree in just three years. Griffin III has also nearly completed a master’s degree in communications.”
Remember how some scouts were talking about Griffin not “treating anybody good” and how he may have issues “dealing with people”?
Idiots.
He’s obviously every bit as advertised, and the Redskins are lucky to have such a fine young man to build the future of this franchise around. That doesn’t guarantee him success by any means, but not seeing the effortless way in which the young man handles himself, just comes off as bitter to me.
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Not to be undone by his fellow rookie quarterback, Kirk Cousins also received pretty big honors this week as well. Cousins was given a Big 10 Medal of Honor – presented to ONE student-athlete from each member university’s graduating class, that “attains the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.”
To give you some scope of the honor, there are some 10,000 student-athletes in the Big Ten, and just 24 awards are given out annually – a distinguished honor indeed.
Obviously Cousins’ football exploits speak for themselves – a three time captain at Michigan State and the most winning quarterback in Spartan history. Off the field, he graduated with a degree in Kinesiology and was named an Academic All-Big Ten selection on four separate occasions.
Congratulations to both of the Redskins rookie quarterbacks. With such heady accolades and awards being handed out – there is definite reason for Redskins Nation to find some solace and some hope in the near future at the position. It’s hard to understand why nobody understood the Redskins taking two quarterbacks in the draft, with the state of their stable; hopefully as people start to realize the quality of both of these young men, they might start to understand why such a bold stroke was not only justifiable – it was required.
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Check back tomorrow for an RGIII wallpaper for you to slap on to your desktop.
What do you say to the minds that be and they’re saying earlier today that RGIII could not possibly be as successful as Bryce Harper?
Bryce Harper is a bonafide superstar – no doubt about it. But in Washington – football is king. RGIII won’t need to reach even close to the same level of success, to win the notoriety battle.
Frankly, I hope they both have long, successful careers in D.C.