INDIANAPOLIS — The man with the braids and the smile to stop an argument appeared at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday and admitted he's hoping someone falls in love with him.
"Other than my fiancee," Robert Griffin III quipped to an overflow crowd of media hanging on his every word. Everyone laughed. Griffin continued: "That's what I'm looking forward to — I'm looking forward to making somebody fall in love with me."
In one 15-minute interview, Griffin charmed and dazzled the national media and showed the presence and poise that have left anyone who has come in contact with him muttering about him. Griffin arrived with plenty of advance notice about his sense of humor and approach — and he disappointed nobody.
When someone asked him "Who are you?" he did a double take.
"That sounds like a paper from my English class," Griffin said.
Griffin's height became a big issue at the combine — a silly issue like this always arises — but he measured at 6-foot-2 3/8, and he was proud of it.
"In high school I was 6-4, 200 pounds, so when I got to college I shrunk an inch and gained weight," Griffin said.
One misconception he also wanted to clear up is that he worked exclusively from the shotgun at Baylor.
"We are in shotgun a lot," he said. "So is Tom Brady and Eli Manning in the Super Bowl, but that's beside the point."
Amid his smiles and casual give-and-take was plenty of serious talk about the future. Griffin acknowledged he would love to be the first pick in the NFL Draft and said he'd "hold that clipboard with pride" for Peyton Manning. If not first, Griffin said, he'd love to go to Cleveland or Washington or anywhere. But at this point his hopes are no more than hopes. All he can do is present himself to teams and hope they like what they see and hear — hope that they fall in love.
The Colts are expected to take Andrew Luck — though Griffin is a long-shot option. The St. Louis Rams have the second pick and they have a quarterback. New Rams coach Jeff Fisher said trading Sam Bradford is not an option, so the Rams will not take Griffin. That means the Rams can auction the pick to the highest bidder — a situation that might put the Rams in position to rebuild with extra picks.
"It's a great opportunity," Fisher said. "It will define the near and hopefully the long-term future of this franchise. We have a lot of options, and we have to be prepared to do whatever."
The Browns have said they are open to moving up or staying where they are. Washington's folks did not speak at the combine, but the Redskins and Miami Dolphins have made no secret they are looking for a quarterback — with Matt Flynn of Green Bay the best free agent available.
Of those teams, Cleveland is the only team with two first-round draft picks this year, which would seem to give them an edge — if they are willing to give up both picks this year for a quarterback.
"We have flexibility," Browns coach Pat Shurmur said. "We can just stand pat and take two really fine players, guys that we would hope to be starters for us. Having two first-round picks you have flexibility if you want to do something."
Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said the team will do its "due diligence" on Griffin. The belief around the NFL, however, is RG3 will not last until No. 3 — that any team that truly wants him will have to trade up to the second spot to get him, and that he will be captivating enough in the pre-draft hype and study time that one team will make the move.
By the end of the day Friday, Griffin said he would have talked with the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs and Browns.
"You never know what's going to happen," Chiefs vice president Scott Pioli said.
The main point Griffin wants to get across these few days: The offense he ran at Baylor was not simple — "I'd like to sit down with them and show them how simple it is" — and that it can translate to the NFL.
"We usually had at least three options in our offense, with a checkdown," Griffin said. "Then the fourth or fifth option would be for me to make something happen."
Which meant run. Griffin is a world-class hurdler, and he will run at the combine but will not throw (like Luck). Griffin decided to save his throwing for his individual workout at Baylor on March 21. But he said he is not a run-first quarterback; he runs when he must or when the play is there.
"Plus," he said. "I ran a pro-style offense in high school. Not that this is high school football.
"Just sayin'."
