A feud between former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III and his head coach in his final year with the franchise, Jay Gruden, has broken out for everyone to see on social media.
It has gotten to the point where Gruden said his ex-quarterback was not “good enough,” while Kirk Cousins, the man who took over in Washington under Gruden after Griffin started the first seven games of the 2014 season, “was better.”
Gruden said this in a since-deleted post, adding “Cleveland didn’t want you. Baltimore [didn’t] either. Quit blaming me.” But where does it all stem?
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Robert Griffin III, #3 of the Baltimore Ravens, shakes hands with Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden following a preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium on Aug. 30, 2018 in Baltimore. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Gruden was watching the Philadelphia Eagles-Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wild Card matchup on Monday, when he noticed the Eagles’ offense could not pick up a blitz.
“If I ever put a QB through what Philly is putting Jalen through, I apologize,” Gruden posted. “Pick up a blitz!”
Griffin used the post as an opportunity to fire back at his old coach, with a picture of himself looking perplexed with the caption, “Say WHATTTT???” He was suggesting that Gruden did so with him in 2014, when he took over as head coach of Washington following four seasons of Mike Shanahan at the helm.
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Gruden responded by saying, “U weren’t prepared Robert?,” to which the dual-threat-quarterback-turned-sports-media-personality responded with another picture of himself looking perplexed while captioning, “You told me you didn’t know how to coach a QB who could throw and run like me, so looks like you weren’t prepared Jay.”
The situation on social media escalated to Griffin’s “RG3 and The Ones” podcast, where he addressed his relationship with Gruden and what was occurring today with their public rift.
Griffin explained why their relationship is sour.
“If Jay Gruden really wants to talk, I’m not going to cuss the man out, I’m not going to call him outside of his name. But what I am going to do is tell you guys the truth. And the truth of the matter is, there was a moment in D.C. that is vividly remembered. Jay Gruden went to a press conference and he undressed me at that press conference in a way that a coach should never undress his starting quarterback.”
Griffin went on to explain that he had made a comment in the media, saying “the best players in the NFL have the guys around them play at an extremely high level,” which insinuated that his teammates needed to step up for him as Washington got off to a poor start in 2014.
However, it was not received well as the media basically said Griffin was throwing his teammates under the bus. However, it was something Griffin said Gruden wanted him to do in front of the press.
Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III, #10, talks with head coach Jay Gruden during a 4th quarter time out as the Washington Redskins defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Dec. 20, 2014 (John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“He doubled down on it, and actually picked me apart in the media,” Griffin explained.
“But what people don’t know is the only reason I went to that press conference and said what I said to challenge my teammates through that press conference was because Jay Gruden asked me to do that. What hurt me about that was after I did that in the press conference, not only did Jay Gruden not have my back, but he actually burned me with it. He came out the next day and burned me in the media. He came out the next day in a meeting, in our team meeting room, and he burned me in front of my own teammates.
“[I] took accountability for what I said. It was taken out of context and apologized to my teammates in front of that team meeting. Now, Jay, knowing that he had asked me to do that and still went to the media and tore me down in the media, even in that room it’s the fact that he has zero self-awareness and zero integrity. Because even though he asked me to do something, he didn’t have the balls to have my back.”
Gruden responded to the clip posted to Griffin’s X account, saying “You really wanna play this game?” He even followed it up by posting a clip of Griffin racing a hawk, where he wrote, “Go race a pigeon.”
“First of all DON’T YOU DARE disrespect @TaimatheHawk He is a SAINT and a quality opponent who can fly up to 120 mph. Secondly, what do you have against Pigeons? Don’t you know they were CRUCIAL to our World War 1 victory? The Pigeon name is more respect than your last name,” Griffin responded.
Additionally, Griffin is not the only ex-player Gruden is sparring at, with former Washington player Brian Mitchell also butting in saying, “Are you serious????? Dude, please just f-ing disappear!!!” Gruden called Mitchell a “punt returner” and told him to “be quiet.”
Mitchell fired back, saying, “I was way better at all of my jobs than you were at any of yours. You are a joke.” Gruden, again, did not back down.
“You have criticized every coach that has ever coached in DC. Why don’t you coach? Punt return would be sick.”
Gruden spent six seasons as head coach of the then-Redskins, owning a 35-49-1 record from 2014-2019. He would be fired before the 2020 season, when he would land with the Jacksonville Jaguars as their offensive coordinator. They went 1-15 that season.
Gruden most recently served as an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams during the 2022 season.
Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden, right, talks with quarterback Robert Griffin III, #10, during first quarter action against the Houston Texans on Sept. 7, 2014 in Houston. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
After Cousins took over as starter in Washington over Griffin, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns. Griffin would play sparing for the Baltimore Ravens from 2018-20 (two starts) before falling out of the mix among quarterbacks in the NFL.
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He mentioned in 2022 that he is still open to an NFL return, but has found a role with ESPN as an NFL and college football analyst.
