ASHBURN, Va. -- Former Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III said during a radio interview Monday that he was never fully wanted by the organization from the beginning and that, based on stats and talent, both he and fellow free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick should still be in the NFL.
Griffin, in a wide-ranging interview that lasted more than 25 minutes with 106.7 The Fan's "Grant and Danny Show," also said he wants to continue playing. He said he felt he only had two seasons to prove himself in Washington.
"I was drafted to a team with a coach who didn't want me, with an organization that wasn't sold on me," Griffin said. "When you make that many trades and trade that many picks, you don't do that for a guy that you're not sold on."
In 2012, the Redskins traded three first-round draft picks and a second-rounder in exchange for the second overall selection, which they used to take Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor. They were hit with a $36 million salary-cap penalty shortly thereafter; former coach Mike Shanahan has said he would not have made the trade had he known they'd be hit with that charge. Other former assistants have said, privately, that they had no choice but to accept the trade.
In a series of tweets Sunday, Griffin said he was never current coach Jay Gruden's "guy" and that the offense wasn't tailored to him. He said on the radio Monday that he did not fit Gruden's system and now understands what happened.
With Griffin having been drafted in 2012 and Gruden hired in 2014, Griffin said that didn't leave him much time to develop after he tore his ACL and PCL at the end of his rookie season.
Griffin started the season in 2014, but a shoulder injury cost him five games; he was later benched. Entering training camp in 2015, he was named the starter but suffered a head injury, and Gruden turned to Kirk Cousins. Griffin never played another snap for Washington and was cut after that season.
"I felt like my time there was cut short, partially due to injury, partially due to some other things," he said. "And just the fact that at the end of the day, a coach [Gruden] was brought in that didn't believe in me and I didn't really fit his system.
"So really and truly, as a No. 2 pick in the draft, and so many draft picks traded for a player, I felt like I got legitimately two years. And I don't think that was in my best interest or in the organization's best interest. But I've been able to accept that and move on from it, and I just want people to be able to realize that and not try to drag my name through the mud, when I've done everything that I was supposed to since the mistakes that I made in D.C. to rectify anything negative that was said about me."
Griffin, 27, has been more present on social media in recent weeks and said he's trying to clear up perceptions about himself, saying he's tired of attacks on his character. Griffin, who spent last season with the Cleveland Browns, also said he learned from his mistakes in Washington.
"Knowing when to get down, not trying to play Superman every single play, jumping over guys," he said. "... What not to say to the media, what you can say to the media. Everything was so public that happened in D.C. that different people took it different ways. I got a lot of respect for the coaches I was able to be under and learn from my time in the league. I really feel like given the opportunity, I'll make the most of my next opportunity and go out and help a team."
Griffin was also asked if, earlier in his career, he could have envisioned he and Kaepernick not being in the league in 2017. Griffin was not asked about recent protests by NFL players, which started with Kaepernick during the 2016 preseason.
"The way the game is played, and just to see the amount of quarterbacks that have gone down this year," Griffin said, "I would say, yeah, there's no way that myself and Kap wouldn't be in the league. If you look at it from a pure stat standpoint, we should definitely be in the league. If you look at it from a talent standpoint, we should definitely be in the league.
"It comes down to the teams, ultimately, and at this time teams don't want to sign myself or Kap. That's just the way it is. It doesn't mean you stop working or you give up."
Griffin also said that the success of other mobile quarterbacks this season shows how a system can be tailored to a quarterback such as himself.
"A lot of these guys are doing great things and they're implementing -- whether it's zone read, play action from the gun -- all those things to help these guys excel and then giving them little things so they can grow," Griffin said.
"The league is honestly repeating itself back to the years in 2011, 2012, 2013, and those offenses are becoming more prolific. I think it was really fun for everybody to watch what happened [Sunday] between Seattle and the Texans, and I feel like those are the type of offenses that would really suit me."