Robert Griffin III still has a couple of football games left on his broadcast schedule.
With the college football regular season completed, Griffin will call his first NFL game on Sunday for Fox Sports when the New Orleans Saints host the Carolina Panthers.
The 2011 Heisman Trophy winner has had a solid first year with Fox, teaming up with Jason Benetti to form the network’s No. 2 college football crew.
However, the fact that Griffin will be calling
an NFL game at the Superdome has special meaning for him.
“My family is rooted in New Orleans. The first time I suited up in the NFL was in New Orleans. The first time I put on a headset as a NFL game broadcaster is in New Orleans too," he said. "God has a way of bringing you back to your roots to remind you who you are.”
Griffin was the second overall pick by Washington in the 2012 NFL Draft. He won the starting job and passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-32 win over the Saints in Week 1. Griffin led Washington to its first playoff appearance since 2007 and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year before suffering a severe knee injury in the playoffs.
He would spend four seasons with Washington, before going to Cleveland in 2016. After not playing in 2017, he spent three seasons with Baltimore (2018-20).
Griffin joined ESPN in 2021 as a college football game analyst and for studio work on NFL coverage. That included two years as an analyst on “Monday Night Countdown.” in 2022 and '23.
He was let go by ESPN before the start of the 2024 season as part of the network's budget cuts. He was off television for most of last season before being hired by Fox during the spring to be a college football analyst.
Griffin said being out of the booth last year wasn't difficult because it allowed him to spend time with his family, including coaching his daughter's flag football team, along with the opportunity to launch his own podcast — Outta Pocket with RGIII — with his wife, Grete. He also coached some high school prospects with a team in the OT7 football league.
He was a studio analyst for Netflix's Christmas Day doubleheader last year before Fox called a couple months later when Brock Huard decided to step away as an analyst.
“Being out and away from it showed me that the passion to do it never waned. Fox was the first place that I auditioned and immediately saw my ability both in the broadcast booth and also in studio. I wanted to make sure when I came over that I gave them my best foot forward,” he said.
Benetti will again be calling the game with Griffin on Sunday. Sarah Kustok will be part of the crew as the field reporter after Alexa Landestoy was the reporter during college football games.
Griffin and Benetti established quick chemistry from the first game despite not working together before.
“We teach football, we have fun, and we’re having conversations as if we’re just two guys at the bar knocking a couple back, having fun enjoying the game. And to me, that’s what makes it so fun. It does not feel like a job. It feels like we’re in our element of telling these guys stories the right way and getting to what the fans actually want to know about,” Griffin said. “Jason understands timing and when to get a story in and how to set up his analyst. And I work hard to ensure that no matter where Jason wants to go, I can go there with him.”
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