Robert Griffin III’s rookie season hasn’t even started yet but he is already standing out as a leader on his team and amongst his peers in the NFL Rookie Class of 2012. In what was a stellar year for Baylor athletics there is one blemish: a former Baylor
basketball player who tried to extort money from former Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
This comes on the heals of Michael Vick’s speech to rookies at the NFL Rookie Symposium where Vick warned the young men about having financial advisors.
“Trust yourself,” Vick said. “Everyone in here can count, right? Raise your hand if you can count. Shoot, I can count. Count your own money. You make it. You don’t need an accountant and all that — that dog and pony show. That’s just extra. An extra invoice that you’re going to get.
“There’s vultures out there, people looking to climb on top of all your money,” Griffin said.
Richard Khamir Hurd, 25, was arraigned Monday in federal court in Waco, Texas. Hurd was threatening to release “derogatory information” about Griffin unless he was paid to keep quiet. Griffin, who was at the Brown’s training facilities for a “Play 60” event wouldn’t comment on the arrest directly.
In fact, much of this has been “secretive” to an extent. The court documents don’t refer to Griffin directly, just simply that Hurd contacted someone with the initials B.D. at a St. Louis agency threatening to reveal harmful information. RG3’s agent is Ben Dogra and he is based out of St. Louis.
“It’s something I knew was coming,” Griffin said, “and when you hear those guys (former NFL players) talk about being careful and keep your circle real small — all those things come back to you when you hear about stuff like this. You’ve got to be careful with who you trust.”
RG3 is definitely learning first hand early on in his career. A very social and outgoing person, the #2 overall pick is finding it difficult to lead a private life.
“There’s a fine line between guarding yourself and being guarded,” he said. “I think I do a pretty good job of guarding myself, even with this situation. It’s just something unfortunate that happened so I think guys can learn. It’s just something that everyone can learn from and just move on.”
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