Having attended Washington Redskins training camp this summer, I was astonished by how many 'Skins fans have already taken to quarterback Robert Griffin III.
Fans in attendance -- the majority of which were clad in No. 10 jerseys -- chanted "R-G-THREE" throughout practice and formed ruly mobs as he approached to greet them and sign autographs (as captured below by The Washington Times' Rich Campbell).
On Monday, Forbes magazine put RGIII's popularity into context when it released a list of the highest-selling jerseys in the NFL since April 1, which is when Nike became the official uniform provider. Griffin ranked second on that list, just behind Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (numbers from NFLSHOP.com were tallied between April 1-July 31):
- Manning
- Griffin
- Tim Tebow, New York Jets
- Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
- Eli Manning, New York Giants
- Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
- Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers
- Tom Brady, New England Patriots
- Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
- Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers
Oddly enough, as the list points out, Manning is sponsored by Reebok (the NFL's former jersey provider) and Griffin by Adidas, making Tebow the highest-ranked Nike client on a list regarding sales of Nike jerseys.
Griffin will put on his own jersey for game action for the first time Thursday when Washington opens its preseason schedule against the Buffalo Bills (The game can be seen live on NBC4's digital channel -- Comcast 208, Verizon Fios 460, Cox 803, various channels on RCN and over the air on 4.2.).
Sports
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