For Robert Griffin III, Friday became Thursday.
The former quarterback and later football commentator was let go during a restructuring at ESPN. He and Sam Ponder were the biggest names to leave the network.
Griffin, previously part of ESPN’s “Monday NFL Countdown” crew and a college football commentator, seemed surprised by the news and showed a clip from the 1995 classic film “Friday.”
“How the hell are you going to get fired on your day off?” John Witherspoon’s Mr. Jones asks his son Craig, played by Ice Cube, and Craig replies, “I don’t know.”
Griffin reportedly had two years left on his contract with ESPN after a three-year stint in Bristol, Connecticut.
His and Ponder’s departure from ESPN was described as a budgetary decision.
Later Thursday, Griffin spoke about his firing from ESPN in a lengthy post on X.
“I’m grateful for so many people who helped me grow during my time at ESPN because they are some of the best in the business,” he wrote. “From the announcer’s booth to the studio and ESPECIALLY the people many of you never see behind the camera.”
For him, unpleasant endings are nothing new.
The 34-year-old won the Heisman Trophy in 2011 to cap off his illustrious college career at Baylor and was selected number 2 by Washington in the 2012 draft.
His impressive rookie season ended with a devastating knee injury in the NFC Wild Card Game against the Seahawks. After surgeries on his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, he was never the same again. A concussion finally ended his time in DC after the 2015 season.
After his release in 2015, he moved around, stopping in Cleveland and Baltimore before retiring after the 2020 season.
Once again, RGIII is looking for a new opportunity. The Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel suggests the NFL Network’s studio show “GameDay Morning” as a possible place to start, as the program is still looking for a replacement for Michael Irvin.
