Robert Griffin III voices disappointment over the lack of track and field coverage and achievements of Sha'Carri Richardson, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

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New England Patriots v Arizona Cardinals

Former American football quarterback and sports commentator Robert Griffin III expressed his frustration recently with the minimal coverage of track and field and its athletes. Griffin shared his opinion on social media by giving a reference to the reigning women's 100-meter world champion, Sha'Carri Richardson, and the 400m hurdles Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

Robert Griffin III himself is an established NFL star, having played four seasons for the Washington Redskins from 2012 to 2015. He achieved a quarterback rating of 102.4 in 2012, 82.7 in 2013, 94.7 the following year, and 76.8 in his last season with the Redskins in 2015.

The athlete then joined the Cleveland Browns in 2016 and got transferred to the Baltimore Ravens in 2018, for which he played three seasons until 2020 and has not appeared in an NFL game ever since.

Griffin now spends his time analyzing and sharing his views on various sports and athletes, as in the recent one where he took to his X and highlighted the shortage of attention and media coverage given to track and field in the United States. He said:

"We're not covering track and field good enough in my opinion. I'm trying to figure out like why don't we just talk about track and field in the way that it should be talked about."

He gave an example of Sha'Carri Richardson and added:

"For instance, Sha'Carri Richardson, you mention that name. I promise you, globally, people know who that is. But how much play is Sha'Carri Richardson, who is the reigning world champion, just ran at the Prefontaine Classic and ran 10.83 (100 m), beating the reigning Olympic champion (Elaine Thompson-Herah). "

Robert Griffin III shared a long list of athletes and said that their accomplishments should be acknowledged. The list has legendary names like double Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Femke Bol, Shericka Jackson, Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin, Grant Holloway, and others.

When Robert Griffin III backed Michael Roth following his disqualification at the AAC Track and Field Championships

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NFL: Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs

Robert Griffin III came in support of Canadian track and field athlete Michael Roth affer his disqualification. During the AAC Track and Field Championships in San Antonio, Texas, last month, Roth won the 400m event, but he fell prey to disciplinary action that was taken against him for his "stay back" gesture towards his opponents while he was finishing the race.

It was considered displaying unsportsmanlike behaviour and sports enthusiasts around the world started to question the decision which was joined by Griffin as well who tweeted:

"Michael Roth ran a PB of 45.78 to win the 400m AAC Championship for @UTSATrackXC, but was disqualified for the BIGGEST BS unsportsmanlike behavior call I have seen this year. Dear Track and Field, We can’t grow the sport, if we don’t let our athletes show their passion for it."

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Edited by Pritha Ghosh
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