The NFL draft is still more than six weeks away, but Redskins fans are already going crazy about Robert Griffin III.
In a story that has to have Dan Snyder convinced that his team made the right move, the Washington Times reports that the Redskins’ ticket office is already feeling Griffin’s impact. One fan is quoted as saying that as soon as the news of the Redskins’ trade with the Rams broke, he wrote the Redskins a check for $2,580 to renew his two season tickets, which he had told a salesperson in the Redskins’ ticket office he would only do if the Redskins traded up for Griffin or Andrew Luck.
Other fans told similar stories, and it’s clear that Griffin is going to make a real difference at the box office. Although all of the Redskins’ games were technically sold out last season, they often played in front of thousands of empty seats. Even if the Redskins still have a losing record next season, they’re going to be playing in front of crowds that are excited about the presence of Griffin and convinced that the team is finally building toward a Super Bowl.
The presence of Griffin is being felt in other respects as well. Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post points out that when news broke of the trade on Friday night, the Post redesigned its front page at the last minute to put the story headlined, “Redskins bet big on QB of future” at the top. And the local sports radio stations broke their existing plans to go with wall-to-wall Griffin talk.
And if you really want to know just how crazy some Redskins fans have gone for Griffin, just listen to one of those sports radio callers.