Washington Football Team fans woke up Tuesday morning to the joy of their team’s hard-earned “Monday Night Football” win over the Seattle Seahawks — a rare event. Playoff possibilities were dancing in their heads after a third straight victory.
Then, just after lunch, something hit social media to remind everyone that joy is a fleeting moment for them, and possibilities often ended in pain.
A reminder that, no matter how many three-game winning streaks Washington has, no matter if the coach is Ron Rivera or Ron Jeremy, or if the quarterback is Taylor Heinicke or Taylor Swift, this football team will never be anything more than a constant embarrassment — or worse — with brief times of triumph as long as Dan Snyder is the owner.
Robert Griffin III — the architect of both brief times of triumph followed by long stretches of pain — woke Washington Football Team fans from their dreams with the news he posted on his Twitter account that he will have a book coming out next August.
The title? “Surviving Washington.”
In a video he posted, Griffin said, “I want you to take this journey with me as I walk you through one of the most dysfunctional franchises in all of sports.”
Griffin’s moment of glory came in the 2012 season in Washington. He hasn’t been with this organization since 2014. Yet in August 2022, there will be a book published by the one-time savior of the Washington Football Team that reminds everyone that Ashburn has been a horror show for much of the time Snyder has owned the team — as if a congressional investigation wasn’t enough.
Speaking of which: “I’m going to open your eyes to the sexual harassment that permeated the walls of that building,” Griffin said.
Which begs the question — why doesn’t the House and Reform Committee, which is looking into the sexual harassment allegations against the franchise by more than 40 women — call Griffin to testify about the “sexual harassment that permeated the walls of that building?”
It would be a great way for Griffin to promote the book, and make an appearance on Capitol Hill, where he could wind up some day as a member of Congress. Griffin could be the Sammy “The Bull” Gravano of the Washington Football Team, who turned on his boss and friend, mobster John Gotti, revealing where all the bodies were buried when it suited him.
On Wednesday, Griffin followed up on Twitter and said the book is about his experience with sexual harassment in Washington — whatever that means — not other people’s.
Still, the committee could use all the pressure it can find when it comes to the NFL, which is refusing to hand over documents related to the Beth Wilkinson so-called investigation into those allegations, including those reported 650,000 emails sent to and received by former team president Bruce Allen.
A high-profile former player — one who I am sure hasn’t signed a nondisclosure agreement — would bring a lot of juice to any Washington Football Team scandal hearings and more heat on its despised owner.
It may be the silver lining in the agony of reliving the Griffin drama all over again — especially from the narcissistic viewpoint of the quarterback, who clearly will continue to portray himself as some sort of victim when the reality was that he was a co-conspirator in the debacle. After all, the title is “Surviving Washington.”
“I’m going to tell you the truth about what happened in that playoff game in 2012 against Seattle,” Griffin said. “I’m going to detail the medical mismanagement that I received during my time in Washington. I’m going to open your eyes to the sexual harassment that permeated the walls of that building and give you a deep dive into a power struggle between one of the most powerful coaches in all of sports and an owner that many of you want gone. They say the truth will set you free.”
It will be interesting how much of the “truth” about his own self-destructive demise he will reveal and his poisonous friendship with the owner. It’s been hashed and rehashed, and the reality is that the victims in this failure were Washington Football Team fans, who will now see it played out all over again when the book comes out, even if they don’t read it.
It will get attention, particularly being released before the start of the 2022 NFL season. Griffin remains in the spotlight as an ESPN college football analyst and has more than two million Twitter followers.
But the upside may be the damage he causes for Snyder.
Remember, Sammy the Bull put John Gotti in jail.
Hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
