Griffin ready to talk at NFL Combine
Robert Griffin III is looking forward to sitting down and talking with NFL executives and coaches during the NFL Combine.
While they know about Griffin being the first Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor, and all the records and big numbers he put up, the quarterback realizes many still have questions about him and the Bears' potent spread-formation offense.
''I'm excited to wow them in the interviews with the type of offense that we run, just so they can understand it's not as simple as some people make our spread out to be. It's a different kind of spread,'' Griffin said. ''Although I don't agree with it, but people say I just burst on the scene this year, so no one knows much about me, whether NFL GMs or analysts, so I get a chance to put my best foot forward.''
Griffin was in Fort Worth on Monday night to accept the Davey O'Brien Award that recognizes the nation's top quarterback.
When the NFL draft takes place in two months, Griffin wants to be the first quarterback selected even though most projections have Stanford's Andrew Luck going first overall to the Indianapolis Colts.
''We both want to be the best, we both want to be No. 1. Whether I get drafted first or not, it's not going to change the way I play,'' Griffin said. ''All I can say, it's about motivation. You never want to feel like everybody thinks you're a sure thing in life because it can rob you of your motivation to go out and get better.''
Griffin insisted he has no hints of what might happen on draft day, but said when he went to Indianapolis during Super Bowl week that fans there were telling him they wanted him to come there. RG3 added that he hopes Peyton Manning stays in Indianapolis, because ''he's a legend and deserves that.''
Along with the interviews later this week at the NFL combine, Griffin plans to run the 40-yard dash and do other drills.
But Griffin said he likely won't throw in Indianapolis. He will instead save that for his pro day March 21, which has been moved up a day to avoid going at the same time as the pro day for Luck, the Heisman runner-up.
Griffin has been working extensively with quarterback consultant Terry Shea preparing for the NFL combine and his pro day. They have done a lot of work on the dual-threat quarterback's foot work.
''Just getting used to the type of routes you have to throw at the next level,'' Griffin said. ''Basically just trying to find the best way to allow my skills to shine, whether that's my quick release or just my ability to drive the football down the field.
''It's like a performance when it comes to your pro day and when you're throwing. It's exactly like a performance, you've just got to memorize the script and go out and execute to the best of your ability,'' he said. ''Once you get drafted, you can go to your team and learn the grand scheme of things.''
Griffin set or tied 54 school records in 41 games at Baylor, which last season tied a school record with 10 wins - the other 10-win season was in 1980 during Mike Singletary's senior year. The Bears won their last six games in 2011, and the record-setting 67-56 victory over Washington in the Alamo Bowl was their first bowl victory since 1992.
Griffin is the school's career passing leader, completing 800 of 1,192 passes (67 percent) for 10,366 yards and 78 touchdowns with 17 interceptions. His 2,254 yards and 33 TDs rushing are records for a Bears quarterback.
Sure, those numbers were made possible by Baylor's offensive scheme. But Griffin said it was based on plenty of pro-style principles.
''At first glance, they see four or five wide receivers, a lot of motion, a lot of different sets of formations,'' Griffin said. ''If you take it from that aspect, it's exactly the same things that the pros do, go two-tight, four wide and two tight ends, and tight end at running back like the Patriots do.''