Robert Griffin III still has plans to play in the NFL

Robert Griffin III is still training to play in the NFL while enjoying his duties as an ESPN college football analyst.

RG3 may even have found a way to be in two places at the same time.

The 2012 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year is an investor in the holographic telepresence startup PORTL Inc. The company’s first product, the Epic PORTL Hologram Machine, enables people to beam themselves from remote locations for a human-sized, lifelike interactive Enable communication.

“Maybe I can call the team game from the hotel room,” joked Griffin. “But seriously, PORTL is the wave of the future. … This is an opportunity not only to influence the advertising and marketing market, but also to beam people to different places for concerts or meetings. This is not only cool, but also practical. … People have told me since I became a professional that there is nothing more precious than your time. So instead of having to fly around the world to go to China or Switzerland or Europe, wherever, you can just beam yourself there. Instead of having to spend all that money on these various promotions, you can literally invest in this PORTL device and do all of your advertising in one place and bring it to life. “

Griffin has spent the past three seasons in Baltimore. He had two starts in 2019-20 to support Lamar Jackson. Although he’s doing fine in his current role, the 31-year-old still wants to play in the NFL.

“Yeah, it still itches to play,” Griffin said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “I am not afraid of that. I plan my week as if I were on the team. “

Griffin says he works out on Mondays, watches movies on Tuesdays, and throws on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

“My job at ESPN is to be the best analyst I could possibly call college football games, and eventually NFL games, and I’m an NFL analyst right now,” he said. “But when that call comes and a team needs me, I’m ready to go. Do I get calls? Yes, I get calls. Did you pull the trigger? No, they do not have. So for me it’s just about staying ready so you don’t have to get ready. “

Five-time Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch has also teamed up with PORTL.

“When I was playing, we always missed holidays, special family events, and I always wish I could have been there,” Lynch told the AP. “Now I can be in two places at the same time. I wish I could have done this my entire career and attended birthday parties and graduation parties and all the things that I missed preparing for a game or playing a game. ”

___

GRONKS CLEATS

Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski will honor the USO on his football boots for this year’s NFL My Cause My Cleats campaign.

Inspired by the service and sacrifice of the military and their families, Gronkowski also plays a leading role in a video This gives an insight into the inspiration for the design of the studs and the “unboxing”. Gronkowski, in partnership with USAA, also coordinated a surprise for a USO military family, the Jasens.

The studs were designed by Marcus Rivero, better known as Soles by Sir. The studs honor the USO and the Jasen family together with the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation.

___

FACILITATE

With the advancement of sports science and the concessions to the players’ union, NFL teams have not trained nearly as intensely in the past. Although they typically play at least four more games as a professional than they did in college, the Rookie Wall is no longer what it used to be because the coaches organize their training sessions to keep the players as fresh as possible on the track.

“The difference is so big. That’s why I love this league so much because the training style isn’t that intense, ”said Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver, who is in his second NFL season. “The college practices are always intense, always energetic, everyone goes 100%. It’s the same in the NFL, but people know how to take care of their bodies, know how to exercise, and what speeds to get. We all take care of ourselves. It lifts heavy weights in college. The NFL is more relaxed. ”

For coaches who got through the game in a different era, it’s still an adaptation.

“We have some older players to take care of but there is a fine line to walk with some of the young players who play so they don’t work as well as they would,” said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer . and adds, “They emptied their buckets for me and for them every week, so I try to take care of them so they can do it again on Sunday.”

Zimmer consults regularly with Head Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman and Head Strength and Condition Coach Josh Hingst about managing the workload.

“I have two little angels or devils or whatever they call them on my shoulders, you know?” Said Zimmer. “Usually I’m the one who says the opposite most of the time.”

GENEROUS INVOICES MAFIA

Although cornerback Tre’Davious White was absent from the side with a knee injury at the end of the season, he was lifted when he discovered the strength of the Bill’s Mafia power.

The Bills’ fan base rallied after White was injured last week by donating more than $ 108,000 to the Northwest Louisiana Food Bank, based in the player’s hometown of Shreveport, as of Wednesday.

“Words fail me for what the Bill’s Mafia did for me and my hometown,” White said in a statement released by his agent. “It really means the world to me that my fans support me in this way by giving back to my community.”

White was injured in a 31-6 win over the Saints on Thanksgiving night, in the player’s first professional game in his home state.

Many of the donations totaled $ 27, which represented White’s jersey number. The appeal for donations was triggered by a tweet from Mafia babes Account on Tuesday that read: “This one hurts. It hurts a lot. What better way to show you the love for our CB1 than to honor it on this donating Tuesday by donating to @FoodBankofNWLA on its behalf. “

White is the newest player to get excited Bill’s mafia Generosity.

The group previously inundated donations to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo on behalf of Bill quarterback Josh Allen after his grandmother’s death last year. Four years ago, Bills fans donated more than $ 300,000 to Andy Dalton’s charity after the former Bengals quarterback led Cincinnati to a last-minute win over Baltimore at the end of the season that earned Buffalo its first playoff spot since 1999.

HONORS OF AHMAUD ARBERY

Detroit Lions Safety Tracy Walker participates in the NFL’s “My Cleats, My Cause” campaign to honor his late cousin Ahmaud Arbery as she hopes to raise funds and raise awareness for Black Lives Matter.

“I know everyone says that all lives are important, but I want to represent my cousin in this situation,” said Walker, who will be wearing Vikings studs containing Arbery’s likeness on Sunday against the Minnesota.

Three men were convicted of murder in the Arbery murder last week.

“That was a great day for me,” said Walker. “It’s a sigh of relief. It’s a shame that we had to wait so long. “

Arbery was a black man who walked empty-handed through a subdivision in Georgia when white strangers chased and imprisoned him on a quiet street before killing him with a shotgun in February 2020. While Walker laments that nothing can bring his cousin back, he tries to do what he can to change racial justice.

“I’m just trying to encourage, treat everyone equally, love everyone equally,” said Walker.

HOUSTON PROUD

The Houston Texans partnered with multiple companies this week to provide $ 400,000 in grants to nonprofits promoting social and racial justice in Houston.

More than 100 grant applications were submitted, and a committee led by Hannah McNair, vice president of the Team Foundation and wife of team owner Cal McNair, selected 15 organizations to raise funds.

“The organizations’ unwavering commitment to the youth of Houston and their families is second to none, and we pride ourselves on helping them continue to make a positive impact on the next generation,” said Hannah McNair. “We know it takes us all to make change and we look forward to seeing your continued work to break down barriers for so many in our community.”

The money was distributed from the Inspire Change Grant Fund, created in September.

The grants, which ranged from $ 10,000 to $ 50,000, will be used to support a variety of social justice initiatives, including health promotion, criminal law reform, homelessness, youth empowerment, education, and mental health.

The largest grant of $ 50,000 went to the SHAPE Community Center, which works to improve the lives of people of African descent. The money will be used for youth leadership programs and a week-long summer tour that takes students around the south to places central to the civil rights movement.

CY-Hope has received a $ 35,000 grant that will use the funds to provide counseling and speech therapy to children and families in need.

The Inspire Change initiative was launched by the NFL in 2019 to help local communities and support programs that break down barriers. The Texans made $ 100,000 in grants each for the first two years of the initiative before partnering with multiple companies to help more organizations this year.

___

AP Pro Football writers Barry Wilner, Dave Campbell and Rob Maaddi and sports writers Kristie Rieken, John Wawrow and Larry Lage contributed to this.

___

More AP-NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL