WASHINGTON — In , Robert Griffin III said the following:
鈥淚 know I鈥檓 the best quarterback on this team. I feel like I鈥檓 the best quarterback in the league.鈥�
Taken in a bubble, out of appropriate context, it鈥檚 understandable why some people might find this statement absurd. After all, the only two categories in which he ranked in the top 10 among NFL quarterbacks last year were yards lost on sacks (227) and fumbles (9).
But we don鈥檛 have to rely on the comment out of context. Here was the full statement:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like I have to come out here and show anybody anything, or why I鈥檓 better than this guy or better than that guy. It鈥檚 more about going out and affirming that, for me, I go out and I play, I know I鈥檓 the best quarterback on this team. I feel like I鈥檓 the best quarterback in the league. I feel like I can go out and show that.
鈥淎ny athlete at any level, if they concede to someone else, they鈥檙e not a top competitor. They鈥檙e not trying to be the best that they can be. There鈥檚 guys in this league that have done way more than me, but I still view myself as the best, because that鈥檚 what I work towards every single day. When I step out on that field, it鈥檚 time for me to go out and prove it, and that鈥檚 what I do every time.鈥�
If you鈥檙e a Washington Redskins fan, would you really want your quarterback to feel any less confidence than that?
Bryce Harper came into the 2015 season as , according to his peers. Like Griffin, he had a thrilling 2012 rookie campaign, but had yet to live up to his full potential in two years since. And like Griffin, he remained unrepentantly confident, having always been the best player at every level of his life, and still being just 22 years old.
Without ever changing his attitude, Harper has exploded to hit .328 with a National League-leading 30 home runs, .452 on-base percentage and .638 slugging percentage. He鈥檚 the front-runner to win the National League MVP Award.
This isn鈥檛 to say that Griffin will necessarily leap forward to become the best quarterback in the NFL this year. But, like Harper, he was the best player on his high school team and, as his Heisman Trophy in 2011 attests, the best on his college team and arguably in the nation.
Top-echelon athletes have nearly always been the best player on every team they have played, a fact that gives them supreme confidence. It鈥檚 that confidence that allows them to succeed while tens of thousands of other humans scream at the top of their lungs for them to fail.
So, I ask again: Why would you not want that trait in your starting quarterback?
A of have been by , not because he鈥檚 great at golf, but because he about . There are plenty of other great golfers in this next generation, from Rory McIlroy, to Dustin Johnson last weekend鈥檚 PGA Championship winner Jason Day. But Spieth has become the poster boy not simply due to his two major wins this year, but for how he has carried himself.
There鈥檚 nothing wrong with being humble on the outside — just don鈥檛 mistake it for any athlete鈥檚 true character when the cameras are off.
If you don鈥檛 think Spieth believes he is better than everyone out there each week, you are sorely mistaken. He most certainly does. And so does McIlroy, and Day, and every other top-level professional in any sport, because if they didn鈥檛 see that potential in themselves, they鈥檇 never achieve it. To become that great takes a Type-A level of ruthless self-flagellation through hours a day of practice and training from a very young age. When you work that hard, you expect to be great.
鈥淚 welcome the expectation,鈥� Griffin told Parker. 鈥淚 welcome the belief, the hope, because that鈥檚 what your quarterback is supposed to instill, not only in the fan base, but also in his team.鈥�
Of course Griffin also experiences self-doubt: He鈥檚 human. But he doesn鈥檛 owe it to you, or to me, or to anyone else to express that publicly. More so, why would you want him to?
If hating an athlete for being outwardly confident helps fuel some fire inside of you, helps make you feel better about your own athletic or professional failings, maybe it鈥檚 time to take a closer look in the mirror and ask yourself why.
Is RG3 the best quarterback in the NFL? It doesn鈥檛 matter. If thinking so helps him stay focused through the injuries and the noise and makes him a better quarterback, any fan should take that in a heartbeat over a modest, mediocre signal-caller.
After all, that approach has worked out pretty well for Harper this year.
