First, Robert Griffin III got benched. Then his Instagram intern got benched.
The lightning-rod Redskins quarterback had a busy day Monday, first being removed from the starting job for the duration of 2015 by coach Jay Gruden, who elevated Kirk Cousins to the first string. Cousins was perceived to be the favorite of Washington’s front office and coaching staff, while Griffin reportedly had a loyal backer in meddlesome owner Dan Snyder.
Or so he thought. Griffin “liked” a ranting Instagram post by a Redskins fan that referred to Snyder as “a sorry ass team owner” and also blasted the “sorry ass front office.” Rather than go the traditional route and attribute the social media fail to a hack, Griffin chalked it up to an overeager intern.
“I just wanted to set the record straight on this one,” Griffin (or another, more capable intern) wrote on Instagram. “I did not ‘like’ that IG post ridiculing our team. I have not been social media active consistently for awhile now and am ultra-focused on working to get back on the field and trying to help this team. One of our interns who helps with Instagram liked the post. As soon as I was made aware of it, it was immediately unliked. That is not how I feel and I appreciate your understanding.”
User “rgiii” removed his like from the offending post by “xtramambosauce” after a few hours.
“I don’t regret the skins grabbing RG, I do regret having a sorry ass team owner and sorry ass front office who couldn’t put a winning coaching staff together who could actually compete for a super bowl,” read the caption accompanying a hero shot of Griffin. “Griffin does not deserve the blame or bad rap …Â The Redskins let him fall and did not help him get up.”