After anonymous scouts went on the record last week to accuse presumed second overall pick Robert Griffin III of having "a little bit of a selfish streak" and warn that the Redskins were "ignoring a lot of bad tape," everyone had a minor meltdown.
Lost in the noise last week was a draft-related conference call done by NBC and NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock, who's one of the most respected commentators. It's a tribute to the restraint of the reporters that the Griffin Character Question wasn't raised until the very end of the call. Here's what Mayock said in response.
From my perspective, A, I did not see the report. And B, I have not seen any of those red flags. And I was around -- and again, I was only around the kid at the Combine in his pro day, and spent some time with him in both situations. Can speak much more adequately about him from what I've seen on tape, which doesn't really tell you much about his character.
What I saw on tape that I liked from a character perspective is his ability to win close games; the game he won against Oklahoma, for instance; the way his teammates seemed to rally around him at his pro day in Waco. I think he's got a naturally charismatic personality that will draw players to him. I think wide receivers are already lining up to try and play in Washington with him.
I give Mike Shanahan and that organization a ton of credit, because you can argue all you want about whether or not they gave away too many draft picks, but at the end of the day, if this kid is as good as they think he is, it won't matter.
And there we go. We can all breathe again.
