Quarterback Robert Griffin III spoke to the Washington, D.C. media via conference call shortly after he was selected by the Redskins with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft:
On how it feels to be drafted by the Redskins:
[Singing] "Hail to the Redskins. Hail victory. That's how I feel. It feels that good."
On how it feels to be drafted even though the pick wasn't a surprise:
"Oh, I'm really excited. A team finally fell in love with me. They want me for who I am, and I can't wait to go and play for them."
On adjusting to the level of play in the NFL:
"Yeah, you know the speed of the game is definitely different. You're going against All-Americans at every single position on the field, but I look forward to the challenge. That's how I play football. If you can play football in high school you can be an elit college player. If you're an elite college, you can be an elite pro. So I'm going to go out and know that I am a rookie, but I'm not going to use that as an excuse. I'm going to try to succeed."
On adapting to a new style of offense:
"Everybody wants to say that the schemes are different. Every scheme is trying to do the same thing, and that's score points, so I think the one thing that I do need to work on – and it just comes with time and just being with the team – is the verbiage. The verbiage of the West Coast system is extremely long, but it's something that I've been picking up on lately. And I know that once I get in that huddle, I'll be able to go out and have bumps in the road at the beginning of training camp, but once we get to the end, it'll be like reading the back of my hand."
On who he is as a person:
"That's always the hardest question. It's like asking somebody why they do something. It's the easiest question to ask but the hardest to answer. But truly I'm a person that tries to lead by example. I don't just talk. Sometimes I get tired of talking about things because you want to just go do it, so I'm excited to just go do it with the Redskins and just know that my dream has come true. And it's up to me to figure out what I'm going to do after that."
On how he would describe himself as a quarterback if he were a scout:
"I don't like to talk about myself in that kind of way, but I know a lot of teams will say, 'Blitz him, make him try to run, try to hit him and beat him up.' And you know, I welcome that because if they're doing something to get after me and try to shut me down, that's what they're supposed to do. My job is to find the holes, so I'm looking forward to finding a lot of holes."
On his familiarity with the Redskins organization:
"Being a Texas kid, you always watch Philadelphia, the Cowboys, the Giants and Washington just because they're all in the same division, and you're in Texas. I've seen the Redskins over the years. I've seen the many quarterbacks that they have gone through, and I'm glad that the organization and the coaching staff bought into drafting a younger quarterback, trying to make him their franchise quarterback, and growing with him."
On the sensation he felt from already knowing where he was going to be drafted:
"I mean it would have been pretty interesting to see the Redskins trade up to number two, here in this room to see my reaction, but I'm not mad about it. A team said they loved me, and they let everyone know early on that they wanted me so they traded up and made it happen."
On the advantage of knowing the Redskins were going to select him six weeks in advance:
"You know, the personnel that they have is amazing, they added weapons in free agency. I'm excited to meet my offensive line. Those are the guys who will be protecting me and protecting my career, and I'm going to go out and try to make plays help protect their careers."
On the estimated time spent with Kyle Shanahan:
"Not very long actually. I've only met with him twice, and I think we had three hours meetings each time. So six hours total. He was just trying to get across to me what they are trying to do with me, what their scheme is that they are going to try to attack other defenses with, and with the guys they have on the team already. So it's not just about me, its everybody else involved. The Santana Moss's, the Pierre Garcon's, the Anthony Armstrong's, the Leonard Hankerson's, the Josh Morgan's. I can go on and on, and I don't want to leave anybody out. Just know that I know who they are and I look forward to seeing what they can do."
On taking time to savor the moment of being drafted:
"I'm looking forward to getting right to work. I'll savor the moment [Thursday night], then on Friday fly to D.C., and then were ready to roll."
On the Redskins fight song:
"Yes, I do know [the first few words]. So I'll learn the rest, and I'll sing it for you all soon."
