Those Shanahans Need to Be Fired!
by Tuesday Morning Tailback
It may have taken an entire season, but I think I’ve finally figured out why the constant use of “RGIII” by mainstream sportscasters and broadcasters has become such a burdensome thorn in my side. I first parodied this in our first regular season article this year called The Idiocy of Overused Acronyms, but the real issue I have with this did not surface with clarity until the aftermath of this weekend’s NFC Wildcard playoff when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Washington Redskins. Robert Griffin III, the Redskins rookie quarterback left the game what appears to be a serious knee injury (there are conflicting reports of the severity as of Tuesday morning). Following the game, the media shitstorm really started.
By Monday morning, many in both sports and “mainstream” were pompously proclaiming that this is a “fire-able offense” by head coach Mike Shanahan and his son, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. These calls were made in spite of the post game press conference where Griffin stated that he told Mike Shanahan that he knows the difference between pain and an injury and, although he was in a lot of pain during the game, he was not “injured”. This statement was accepted by Shanahan but was, of course, not good enough for the media. Then it all came together why the whole “RGIII” bothers me so much.
I’ve come to realize that there is a difference between the well-centered and intelligent man with extraordinary talent who is Robert Griffin III and the cartoonish media Frankenstein with pre-fabricated scripts of destiny already written for him and no real concern for his own judgment or opinion, which has been deemed “RGIII”. These media morons questioned why Shanahan would put “the future of the franchise” in such jeopardy while apparently never realizing that Griffin is a far bigger stakeholder in his own future than the Redskins “franchise”. From their perspective, Griffin couldn’t possibly have a say in his own condition – he’s just the mindless million dollar sports car who is being driven by such irresponsible drivers as the Shanahans. So that’s my theory on the where the slippery slope ends when middle-aged “reporters”, not just kids or color commentators, adopt a once hip, quickly passé acronym as a replacement for the human name of the actual man.
Adding an ironic twist to this all is that this should all happen in Washington, DC, where scapegoating responsibility has become the default art form of the 21st century. Perhaps someone in that town needs to draft some federal legislation to determine when an NFL coach can and cannot play his quarterback.
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Tuesday Morning Tailback is a weekly article during football season which take a critical look at the NFL. We do this from the base belief that NFL football is the greatest game in the history of mankind, but some recent policies and the overall direction of the league has chipped away at this greatness. Our primary goal is to spark debate on these subjects, so please leave your own opinion on this article in the comment box below.