American · Okinawa, Japan · Born 12 February 1990Baylor quarterback known as 'RG3' who won the 2011 Heisman Trophy after posting the best pass efficiency mark in the award's history, becoming the first Baylor player to win it.
Robert Lee Griffin III was born on 12 February 1990 to two Army sergeants and grew up an elite hurdler as well as a quarterback, recording the nation's top prep time in the 400-meter hurdles as a junior at Copperas Cove High School, Texas. He enrolled at Baylor in 2008, immediately winning the starting job and Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors, and continued competing in collegiate track before giving up running to focus fully on football. After missing most of 2009 with a knee injury, Griffin returned in 2010 to throw for 3,501 yards, but it was his junior season in 2011 that transformed both his career and Baylor's program. He led the Bears to a stunning season-opening upset of No. 15 TCU, throwing for 359 yards and five touchdowns, and went on to complete 72.4% of his passes for 3,998 yards and 36 touchdowns while adding 644 rushing yards and nine scores. His 192.31 pass efficiency rating remains the best in Heisman history. Griffin won the 2011 Heisman Trophy with 405 first-place votes, easily defeating Stanford's Andrew Luck, becoming the first Baylor player ever to win the award and just one of 40 schools in history to produce a Heisman winner. He also swept the Davey O'Brien and Manning Awards as the nation's top quarterback, was named consensus All-American, and led Baylor to a 10-3 record and a wild 67-56 win over Washington in the Alamo Bowl, the highest-scoring regulation bowl game in NCAA history. Griffin graduated early with a political science degree and was selected second overall in the 2012 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year before a severe knee injury derailed his once-promising professional career; he later became a college football analyst for ESPN.
Winning the 2011 Heisman Trophy with the best pass efficiency rating in the award's history, becoming the first player in Baylor's 121-year football history to win it
How They Played
Explosive dual-threat quarterback combining elite arm talent with sprinter-level speed, a background in competitive hurdling that translated into rare athleticism at the position
Lasting Impact
Regarded as one of the most electrifying dual-threat quarterbacks of his college era, whose Heisman-winning season transformed Baylor from a struggling program into a national contender, even as injuries limited his professional ceiling
Career Honours
- 2011 Heisman Trophy - first won by a Baylor player
- 2011 Davey O'Brien and Manning Awards
- Consensus All-American (2011)
- Best pass efficiency rating in Heisman history (192.31)
American Athletes