Robert Griffin III: The Product

If at some point you’ve never heard the name Robert Griffin III, or as many know him as RG3, you more than likely have by now.  If not you don’t watch much television.  That's because Robert Griffin III is said to be the most marketed NFL rookie of all time.  That means higher than other highly visible rookies including Reggie Bush, Michael Vick, and even, dare I say, one Timothy Tebow.  All this before he has even played in an official NFL game.  

Image Courtesy of: Washington Redskins

Griffin’s marketing agent, Mark Heligman at Creative Artists Agency said, “The primary factor is that Robert had the desire to do it. He was interested in marketing from Day 1."

So what is it about Griffin that is so different?  Is it just a tale of the time?  Does it have anything to do with his race?  Being a highly touted black quarterback isn’t extremely uncommon.  There was Jamarcus Russell and Vince Young.  Maybe it has something to do with his intelligence level.  Griffin was the class president of his high school and graduated 7^th overall in his class even with football and a state champion level track career taking the majority of his time.  From there he was offered a scholarship to Stanford, but declined due to the school’s commitment to the future first overall NFL Draft selection, Andrew Luck.  Griffin would go on to chose Houston to remain close to home and play under coach Art Briles.  Of which he followed to Baylor University before his commitment deadline.  What does that have to do with his intelligence?  He graduated from Baylor in only 3 years with a 3.67 GPA and was working on his master’s degree while completing his final year of college sports eligibility in the nation’s spotlight.  If you watched any of his interviews during and after his college career you probably found him to be surprisingly refreshing with reference to his speaking ability.  This can be seen in his ESPN E:60 interview conducted before the NFL Draft.

  

So intelligence is good, but I’m pretty sure other rookies including that Andrew Luck character I alluded to earlier to be pretty intelligent as well.  Maybe it has to do with his strong upbringing.  Griffin was born on an Army base in Okinawa, Japan to Army parents.  He speaks of discipline always being present in the household.  He was quoted earlier this year in an ESPN article saying, "My parents were huge on discipline. It was yes sir, no ma'am," Robert says. "And if you say you're going to start something, you finish it."  This state of humbleness may be part of the reason that he ended up going back to the gym in his hotel after winning the Heisman trophy as the nation’s best football player instead of going out and celebrating.  By the way, did I mention he ran the fastest 40-yard dash time for a quarterback in 12 years and that he was invited to take part in the Olympic qualifiers in track after high school.  So maybe it’s his speed after all.  I do know one thing, whether it’s his intelligence, upbringing, or his amazing athleticism RG3 is a highly marketed man.  From completing his reign at Baylor until now Griffin has been involved in promotions for Gatorade, Subway, and Electronic Arts to name a few.  His largest deal, as told by his marketing agent, is his deal with adidas.  In which Mark Heligman was not forward with the terms, but is said to be the largest rookie deal since Reggie Bush.  Griffin has since been featured in several adidas ads such as the one below.

Overall, only time will tell if these companies have chosen the face of their marketing correctly, but for now RG3 is smiling all the way to the bank.

For more with Robert Griffin III’s marketing agent, Mark Heligman read this Q&A article: LINK