Robert Griffin III

Should we star this post with the positive or the negative?

Let’s start with the negative.

GQ cannot be serious with these photos they used for RG3′s cover story. There’s more wrong here than in an episode of Honey Boo Boo.  Sheree from Real Housewives of  Atlanta had more fashions in her fashion show in which no one modeled anything than these photos have. Further, why are RG3s infamous plaits blowing like that? Did they borrow Beyonce’s wind machine? Man, I’m really disappointed.

I mean we can’t all be as perfect as my son-in-my-head Cam Newton (pictured above from his September shoot last year) but surely GQ could have done RG3 better than this!

Moving along to the positive, new Falcons RB Steven Jackson is Essence’s man of the month and I love it. If you hop over to Essence’s site there’s a video of Steven talking about maturing in all areas of his life including relationships. He says he’s 30 years old and it’s time to settle down. 

Only way a person believes that tattoos suddenly make this sweet faced individual look like a thug is if they’re one chromosome from having one chromosome.

So, let me guess…people learned zero, zip, nada, nothing from Allen Iverson? 

Let me refresh your memory. Allen Iverson was lambasted for years for having visible tattoos and cornrows. Fastforward barely a decade after he leaves the league and cornrows and tattoos are everywhere on everybody. And don’t you feel like an idiot for ever caring in the first place? No? Well you should. 

The other day I tweeted that I’m rooting for newly minted 49ers starting QB Colin Kaepernick to succeed because he’s a QB with visible tattoos. Anything that detaches people from what a quarterback “should be” or “look like” is a win in my book. I still didn’t expect some neanderthal to write something bashing Kaepernick’s tattoos and comparing him to an inmate or thug. 

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Had I known Adidas and the city of Washington DC was really going to kill the 74 foot projection of rookie Redskins QB Robert Griffin III I’d have ventured down the street to see it. Sadly, I live on Pennsylvania Avenue and was still too lazy to go. But this looks tremendous!!

As has been reported this was a way of welcoming RGIII to the city and his first home game and obviously to hype Skins fans up for a new season. The Skins welcome home luncheon was today and according to tweets RGIII got a partial standing ovation.

#RGIIIHologram LOL

No one can say Washington DC doesn’t love their Redskins.

Rookie and Washington Redskin’s QB Robert Griffin III is already off to a fast start in the marketing department (just as Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton was last year). His new gatorade commercial has been released and you can watch it below.

First thing I thought of was all the people who said RGIII needs to cut his braids to establish an image. For style purposes, maybe. But for endorsement/public image purposes? No way. He is a marketer’s dream and there’s very little he can do to change that besides get injured or truly play like trash. Let’s all remember, in Michael Vick’s Atlanta Falcon days he signed a zillion endorsements with raggedy corn rows in his hair — a style that never fit his face and was considered “thuggish” by mainstream crowds [See: Iverson, Allen].

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The part of me that cares about fashion wants Robert Griffin III's plaits to disappear, the part that craves a case study wants him to keep his hair long.

As a serious football blogger (hahahah), I should be writing about how the speed Griffin displayed over the weekend at combine is pretty much unheard of for a quarterback. I should be talking about whether or not the Redskins are really going to try to move hell and Browns to get to the Griffin. I should even be talking about whether the Rams would be or should be remotely interested. And maybe I will…later. But right now I want to focus on those flowing locs sprouting from Griff’s head.

I have always hated plaits which are basically individualized “loose” braids rather than tightly woven corn rows that were trendy in the early 2000s a la former Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson. Plaits have always made me think West coast, Snoop Dogg-meets-4-year-old girl. And I dislike them on little girls so it’s only natural that I dislike them on grown men who clock in at 6’3 and run unofficial 4.38 40s. When it comes to long hair (on black men) I like dreadlocks and some afros. But plaits will never make it in my book.

Still, I hope Griffin keeps his long hair even if I have to suffer through looking at plaits-hey, that’s what bobby pins are for right? Even wild rapper Waka Flocka stops shaking his dreads sometimes and french braids them or pins them back for a cleaner look.

It’s hard to explain to people who aren’t black what a huge deal hair is in the black community. Whether you are a woman who has been told your natural hair is unprofessional or felt pressure to relax it with chemicals or whether you’re a man who is perceived as “threatening” when you diverge from anything other than a low cut caesar or something playful like a mohawk that tells people you’re not serious about anything much less hurting them.

In a league where it’s still a big deal for a QB to be black (maybe not to YOU, but to many of us, including me) if Griffin’s braids can be accepted without a hitch I think it says something about progress. I don’t want Griffin to keep long hair to prove a point or to be defiant. And if he doesn’t keep his braids it doesn’t mean he’s conforming. I don’t want or need Griffin to make any personal statements about blackness with his hair.

But if he keeps the long hair it will give me a chance to see what the reactions are. Will they (mainstream press, advertisers etc) see Griffin’s hair as “other” or will they see it like Tom Brady’s long hair (which I also hate)- as a personal style choice that isn’t particularly attractive but works cause he likes it. When Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, told Cam Newton not to get any tattoos he really meant don’t do anything that’s not mainstream and that includes afros (as McNabb once rocked even though I couldn’t tell what was going on there), dreadlocks or Griffinesque plaits. And Newton has made it clear he doesn’t intend to let anything stand in the way of becoming a golden boy so while some balked at Richardson’s request in reality he was preaching to the choir.

I do remember when athletes having locks was a big deal, now it seems like every NFL team has at least 2 or 3 guys with beautiful strands peeking out under their helmets. Same thing with Iverson’s braids…nowadays corn rows only raise eyebrows cause they’re out of style. Even the poster boy for grand gestures of defiance Randy Moss says he won’t wear them anymore.

Progress.