"It went away actually after about a minute, so i thought I'd be fine. I got taped up. They told me I wasn't going to be able to play until after halftime. I begged them to put me back in, they put me back in. I played the rest of the half."
That was Robert Griffin III talking about his right knee injury. In 2009.
While we continue to question whether or not RGIII should have remained in Sunday's 24-14 loss to the Seahawks when it was obvious that his knee was acting up, let it be known that this is not the first time during his career that he has brushed off medical advice.
During a game against Northwestern State on Sept. 26, 2009, Griffin, then a sophomore at Baylor, "ran a speed option play" on fourth down, "ran out to the right [and] tried to cut inside of a safety that was flying down pretty fast."
"As soon as I planted my foot, there was a little snap in my knee," he said nonchalantly.
Of course, that's where the quote at the top comes in.
Griffin had surgery to repair his torn ACL the following month and missed the rest of the season. During his most recent surgery Wednesday, RGIII had that ACL reconstructed by Dr. James Andrews.
We can only speculate about what kind of player Griffin will be when he returns to action, but for what it's worth, Griffin returned from his first torn ACL to become a Heisman Trophy winner, the No. 2 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and a Pro Bowl quarterback in his rookie season. Just sayin'.
Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamVingan and e-mail your story ideas to adamvingan (at) gmail.com.
Photo Credit: Getty Images