Robert Griffin III, the Heisman Trophy-winning Baylor star who’s widely regarded as the No. 2 quarterback in this year’s NFL draft, was in Indianapolis on Friday for some Super Bowl media appearances. And he said he’s hoping to be in Indianapolis for years to come.
Griffin told Don Banks of Sports Illustrated that he’s still holding out hope that he, and not Andrew Luck, will go first overall to the Colts.
“It’s going to be a great experience at the combine, talking to all the NFL teams,” Griffin said. “Hopefully I’ll end up here via the draft.”
Colts owner Jim Irsay has mentioned both Griffin and Luck as the players the Colts might take first overall, and Griffin said it was gratifying to hear the Colts’ owner mention his name.
“That’s huge,” Griffin said. “It’s every kid’s dream. Every kid wants to be the first pick in the draft. I wouldn’t say no to it. I’m glad he at least put me in that conversation and hasn’t already made it a foregone conclusion that he’s going with Andrew, like a lot of people have.”
Griffin said he has nothing against Luck but he doesn’t hide the fact that he views Luck as his competition, and he takes pride in beating out Luck for the Heisman Trophy, even though Luck entered last college football season as the favorite for the award.
“He was the de facto Heisman winner and the de facto No. 1 pick,” Griffin said. “We already took one of those from him and we plan to continue to go out there and do that. Whether it’s with the first pick in the draft, a playoff win, or who goes to the first Super Bowl. I will use that as a driving force, whether I go first, second, third or fourth in the draft. The fact I wasn’t out there with people believing in me is going to be the key to drive me to be a better player. So it’ll always be a competition between me and Andrew, just because we’re in the same class and the media is going to paint it that way. I don’t have anything against him, and he doesn’t have anything against me. We’re just competitors.”
There’s no doubt that the team that drafts Griffin will have itself a competitor.