Hall of Fame coach and former broadcaster John Madden watched the Redskins’ win over the Saints on Sunday, and afterward he said he views Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III as a quarterback who can run like Tim Tebow and pass like, well, someone with a much better arm than Tim Tebow.
“You know, the thing that he did that was so amazing was he reminded me — and I don’t mean to throw names around — but he reminded me of a Tim Tebow that can pass,” Madden said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via the Washington Post. “You know, Tim Tebow, when he was playing for Denver last year, he would tend to freeze the defenses, because they weren’t sure if it was run or pass, if he was gonna hand off or run. I mean, he couldn’t pass like RGIII — [Griffin] can throw the ball — but he has a tendency to freeze the defense.
Madden said he was in awe of how poised Griffin looked while playing in a difficult environment in the Superdome.
“It’s darn near an impossible task to open up and play the Saints in their place,” Madden said. “I mean, no one wins down there, so I didn’t expect him to do anything like he did. But I did want to see him, and I wanted to see what he had. And at some point, I have to admit that I said this, it just came out, I said RGIII’s the best player in the NFL today. That’s what I really thought. Those words did come out.”
It’s probably not realistic to think Griffin can keep looking like the best player in the NFL every week. But Madden is right: On Sunday, he looked really, really good.