National Football League

RGIII on Redskins controversy: 'I understand oppression'

Published Jun. 21, 2014 12:44 a.m. ET

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The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday that the Washington Redskins’ federal trademark for its team name has been cancelled, calling it “disparaging of Native Americans.”

Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III was asked about the situation in an interview on CBS D.C.’s “106.7 The Fan” on Friday.

“When it comes to those conversations, it’s just not the time,” Griffin said. “And I understand, trust me. I’m African American. I’ve grown up being African American my entire life, and I understand oppression and all the things that come with it.

“But for us, like I said, as players, we have to control what we can control right now, and right now that’s the football season.”

Griffin and the Redskins are coming off of a 3-13 season, finishing last in the NFC East. The 24-year-old played in 13 games during his sophomore season, throwing only 16 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and posting a quarterback rating of 40.1.

Griffin is well aware of this, saying that the players are focused only on what happens on the field.

“And our focus is on making sure that this season is much better, not just a little bit, but much better than last year, ’cause that’s not acceptable,” Griffin said. “So that’s what we’re focused on, man, and we have the power to change that, and the other stuff is a bunch of legal things that are going on, that us as players, we can’t focus on that.”

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