Echoing the sentiments of everyone living within 50 miles of Washington D.C. or anywhere in America, for that matter, former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann said of Robert Griffin III, “it’s time for [him] to be quiet.” And if you’ve ever heard Theismann in the booth or followed his career, you’ll realize the irony of this quote, which is sort of like Keith Richards telling a young rock star not to party so much.

Theismann’s quote comes via an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio courtesy the D.C. Sports Bog:

“You’re right: it’s time for Robert to be quiet. And the Redskins have basically shut him down. He gets one interview a week, per request and requirement by the National Football League. It’s time to just go play football.”

Theismann in 1981, in a rare moment of quiet. (Getty Images)

He’s right, of course. It’s something we, and everybody else, have been saying for years. But over the past few days I wonder if we’ve been too hard on Griffin — not for his inability to keep his mouth shut, but for his play on the field. (Speaking of keeping his mouth shut, on Thursday Griffin gave another press conference for some reason and claimed he didn’t know whether he had a concussion and used the phrase “I just work here.” STOP. TALKING.)

Like it or not, he was the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year over Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson and deserved it. He played sublime football for most of that season and had the ‘Skins out to a 14-0 lead on the Seattle Seahawks in the 2012 wild-card game before getting hurt, then trotting out there on a bad leg like Lassie, all while Mike Shanahan did nothing. That led to a worse injury, which led to Griffin’s surgery, which led to Griffin rushing his rehab, which led to an awful 2013, which led to Shanahan trying to rewrite history, which led to Shanahan’s firing, which led to the inexplicable hiring of a coach who didn’t particularly like Griffin, which led to last year’s quagmire, which led us to where we are today: Robert Griffin III, once a deity in Washington, is now a quarterback people don’t want starting and one who’s likely on his way out of town in eight months.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

But why? This can’t be impossible to salvage, can it? Since 1977, the Redskins have made the playoffs twice in years that Joe Gibbs didn’t coach. Griffin quarterbacked one of those years. And he wasn’t dragged around for the ride, he was driving the train. Now the knocks are that his pocket awareness stinks, he panics when he can’t find his first read and he still doesn’t know how to slide or run out bounds. But these are all things (with the exception of the sliding) that can be aided by a slightly better offensive line. Give Griffin an extra second to throw and who knows what’ll happen. If that occurs this year, the Redskins will gladly bring Griffin back.

So be quiet now and let your play do the talking, Robert. If his quarterbacking is saying the right things, the ship that is the Washington Redskins may finally stop sinking.

(Getty Images)