For someone who was critical of Robert Griffin III having the nickname RG3 when he entered the NFL, Osi Umenyiora sure has made a complete turnaround. It only one game for the Redskins rookie to earn the respect of the veteran defensive end. After Griffin’s stellar NFL debut against the Saints in Week 1, Umenyiora immediately said he is willing to call him RG3. Now, he has even taken it a step further.
“His name is Sir. His name is Sir Robert Griffin,” Umenyiora told the Star-Ledger on Thursday. “That is what I refer to him now. I mean, look at what he’s done. Look at the way he’s performed as a rookie. You don’t see players come into the league and perform like that at that stage in their career, so all the respect in the world goes to him, and he is a phenomenal football player.
“We know the kind of speed he has. But more importantly, he has an arm. He is a good quarterback. Forget all the running stuff. This guy is good. They’ve got a real good player on their hands, and we’ve got a problem on ours.”
Osi’s comments are particularly interesting because they are far different from the ones teammate Jason Pierre-Paul made about RG3 on Wednesday. When asked about Griffin’s running ability in the wake of his 138-yard performance against Minnesota, Pierre-Paul warned the rookie to avoid bringing the ball to his side of the field. Umenyiora said he hopes Griffin avoids bringing it to his side as well, but for a far different reason.
“I hope he doesn’t come to my side,” Umenyiora said jokingly. “Hopefully, they will be able to go somewhere else. I don’t want no part of that. He is just a phenomenal football player, and they are a good team, and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
So there you have it. Two players who play the same position on the same team, one of which is going with the intimidation approach and the other who is trying to kill his opponent with kindness. Giants fans can only hope at least one of those strategies is effective come Sunday.
H/T Chris Wesseling
Photo credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE
