Tim Brown thinks RGIII needs to work on his social skillsWashington Post; January 30, 2015
If there’s a code that one former Heisman Trophy winner should not speak ill of another, Tim Brown came dangerously close to breaking it this week. The longtime Oakland Raiders star — in Arizona to promote his Hall of Fame candidacy — appeared on ESPN 980 Thursday afternoon, where he talked about his career numbers and other assorted bits of history.
Near the end of the segment with Steve Czaban, Chris Cooley and Al Galdi, Brown was asked about Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III. (
Listen here.)
“I was happy to see him come back the last couple games and play decent, play a lot better than what he had been playing,” Brown said. “And I hope that’s enough to give him another shot in D.C., and really give him the confidence that he can get this thing done.
“But I know RGIII well enough to know that he’s a little different,” Brown went on. “I mean, I know he is maybe not the brother that you’re gonna be hanging out in the locker room with. And from that standpoint, that’s something that he has to work on. If he’s going to be a leader, he has to be a leader of everybody in the locker room, and not just one or two guys in the locker room.”
“How is he when he gets together with all the Heisman guys?” Cooley asked.
“He’s … he’s tough,” Brown said, after hesitating. “He’s a different, guy, you know? And there’s no laughter, there’s no let me get in here with the boys. Everybody’s telling jokes on each other, and nobody’s trying to be mean. But you say something to him and it’s like oh wow really? Really?
“So instead of taking it further, what ends up happening is [it's like] he’s not in the room,” Brown said. “So you end up talking around him the whole time. And that’s not cool. Because now you’re literally having to talk around a guy, [when] everybody else is in here having fun and having a jovial time. So I think that’s just something that he has to understand. This is a team sport you’re playing. It’s not golf . If it was golf, brother, I’d say go for it, do what you do. But if you’re going to play a team sport, and you’re going to be the leader of a team sport, you’ve got to loosen up a little bit and be a part of the team.”
That quote will definitely make things much less awkward the next time all the Heisman guys get together.