It’s fudge-gate.
Robert Griffin III found himself in some “Did he actually say that?” controversy Monday when some believe he dropped an f-bomb before the Raiders’ 17-13 win over the Packers.
Griffin maintains he said fudging and did not deserve to land ESPN a hefty FCC fine while discussing former teammate and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“I’m hearing guys talking about, ‘Oh, Lamar Jackson needs to be better, he needs to do this,” Griffin said. “The real question we need to ask is: Is he getting enough out of the guys around him on offense before we start talking about his contract? He’s out there fighting for his (fudging) life, man. I don’t know what more the guy can do.”
It certainly appears that Griffin did say fudging upon first listening, although it’s easy to see why some on social media believe the former No. 1 pick dropped an f-bomb.
Even colleague Ryan Clark dropped his head right after Griffin’s use of “fudging.”
Griffin has since offered multiple tweets insisting he did not ruin what should be a family friend broadcast.
He first quote tweeted popular NFL account Dov Kleiman, stating: ‘😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Thank you Dov for getting it right. CLEARLY said FUDGING.”
When another account tweeted his quote with the expletive, Griffin quote tweeted: “Man, a lie will get half way around the world before the truth puts its pants on. CLEARLY said FUDGING but social media gonna social media 😂.”
Griffin followed up with another quote tweet showcasing his statement: “Don’t let people FUDGING UP what I said distract you from the fact that Lamar Jackson ISN’T GETTING THE HELP HE NEEDS FROM THE GUYS AROUND HIM ON OFFENSE RIGHT NOW.”
Whether or not he said fudging, Griffin clearly wanted to redirect some of the blame pointed at Jackson following Baltimore’s collapse in its 17-10 loss to the Steelers in Week 5.
The two played together in Baltimore from 2018-20.
Jackson, who signed a five-year, $260 million contract in the offseason, has just four touchdown passes and two interceptions through five games, although he’s added 265 rushing yards and four scores.
He threw a game-changing interception in the end zone Sunday with Baltimore ahead, 10-8, in the fourth quarter, and Pittsburgh responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive to take the lead for good.
His receivers did drop several key passes that cost the Ravens, including Zay Flowers on what should have been an easy first half touchdown.
“What is Baltimore? I played there for three years, last three years of my career,” Griffin said. “I know the identity of what they want to do inside of that building. But right now, Lamar Jackson is not getting any help from his offense around him.”
