Robert Griffin III traveled from Washington to Waco this weekend to see himself immortalized at the age of 24.
Griffin was back at the campus of Baylor, the school where he won the Heisman Trophy and where a new football stadium has opened that features a bronze statue of Griffin outside.
“It’s amazing. You don’t dream about that kind of stuff,” Griffin told the Waco Tribune. “There’s a Statue of Liberty and all those other statues, but you don’t ever dream of having a statue honored in your name. That’s a blessing. It comes from God, and I don’t look at it as anyone putting me on a pedestal. I look at it as I know where my blessings come from, and they’re using me in a way to help other people. Not just to say, ‘he’s a great football player.’ I hope they say, ‘he’s a great man’ as well.”
Baylor President Ken Starr talked about Griffin in glowing terms, saying he hopes people will visit Waco to see Griffin’s statue just as they visit Washington to see the Lincoln Memorial and visit New York City to see the Statue of Liberty.
Griffin’s disappointing second season in the NFL has led to many questions about whether he can ever live up to the promise he showed as a rookie. But at Baylor, he’s still an idol.