Everything Robert Griffin III is under the microscope these days, including a visit he received from his father in the Redskins locker room just after Monday night’s loss to the 49ers.
Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com reported that father and son “seemed to have a lengthy and, at times, tense conversation” before and after Griffin addressed the media. There has been some criticism and much discussion about the visit in the days since the game, which Griffin talked about during his visit with reporters on Monday.
Griffin said he was “shocked” to see his father in the locker room, but that the visit was nothing more than concern about Griffin’s well being after a kick to the groin during the game. Griffin III went on to say that there are no ill effects from the kick -- “There will be a Griffin IV” -- and that he hoped criticism of his father’s trip to the locker room would stop.
“Family members sometimes come in the locker room,” Griffin said, via the Washington Post. “So I’m not gonna say whose family members are in the locker room. It’s just he showed up. Yeah, I was shocked that he was there. But he meant no harm. And anybody out there that’s going after my dad needs to back up. That is my father. I will protect my family. And he served 21 years in the military. I know that’s not an excuse for anything that he does. But he’s not overstepping any bounds. So ... I hope people respect that and will back off.”
If the season had not gone off the rails in Washington, there probably wouldn’t be anything made of a locker room visit like this. It has gone that way, though, and the only question left now is how ugly things will get before the season comes to a close.