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1.11.12 Daily Bears Report: RG3's Decision, Baylor Basketball Perfection, and Beyond...

By Mark C. Moore

So it appears that today will be Baylor football's Day of Days. According to KWTX's 254Sports, Robert Griffin III will announce his decision today on whether or not he will return to Baylor for his senior season of eligibility.

I don't think I have to talk much about what it would mean for our program if Griffin were to return. He is the entire difference between a preseason top-10 ranking and one outside the top-25. He is that good. He is that special. If he were to announce that he is staying, police departments across east Texas would go into overdrive to stop me from running naked through the streets. The only problem is...

News broke yesterday from ESPN's Chris Mortensen that the decision was already made for RG3 to declare but the announcement would not come until he could speak with Coach Briles, who has been at a coaching clinic in New York for the past two days. KWTX then disputed that report and said a decision had not been reached yet and that RG3 would not do so until he had another chance to meet with Briles personally. That report went on to say that RG3 was conflicted about the decision (which is completely understandable) and might take until the last possible day, Sunday. ESPN, who doesn't seem to care much for reports that conflict with their own, ran the Mortensen story all afternoon, evening, and night, so most people probably think he has already officially declared. He has not. Yet.

I don't know Robert Griffin III personally and I have no sources worthy of the title, but I think, as in most things, that the truth is somewhere in the middle. The problem here is probably how all the parties involve define the word "decision." It is possible to make a decision and not have it be a final one. It is also possible to say you have not decided but be leaning so hard one way or the other that a real "decision" is a formality. Robert maintains that he hasn't made a decision. I believe him. I am not calling him a liar. But I do think that he has probably been leaning strongly in one direction for some time now, but competing interests make him question whether he's doing the right thing. All of us know how that feels, and RG3 knows that this is the biggest decision he's ever had to make outside of proposing to his fiancee.

My personal belief based on the things he has said in the past is that he wants to return. I think most players in his position would. They have coaches, players, friends, maybe even family that they do not want to disappoint and probably feel obligated to remain where they otherwise wouldn't. Robert has been at Baylor 4 years now; it is impossible for me to imagine that he does not have a strong personal connection to her campus and her people. Baylor football has accomplished incredible things with him at the forefront. Even more incredible things are possible if he stays.

That being said, the proper business (and I mean "business" in the non-personal sense, I'm not just talking about money) decision is for him to declare and enter the NFL Draft. According to the most recent reports I've read he will definitely go in the top 5 to someone. The contract he will sign will pay him tens of millions of dollars. I'm not sure it's possible for the RG3 stock to get any higher than it is right now. So even though he probably has that desire to stay, he will make the right-- logical-- choice and will declare today for the NFL Draft. That it is such a big deal and we are all sitting here gnashing our teeth should be celebrated; who could have imagined even a year ago that Baylor would have a Heisman Trophy winner and top-5 pick?

I will do the absolute best I can to update you as news about a press conference or an announcement comes out. If you find something or hear something I don't, please post it here. This is going to be a huge day for the Baylor community that we love. Part of me is actually excited about what it might mean for our program. I will be slightly depressed, obviously, that RG3 is leaving us, but our arrow still points firmly up.

I hope RG3 knows that his legacy at Baylor is in no way dependent on what he announces today. If he leaves, he does so with our love (or at least he should). I hope no one faults him for his choice. From that first Wake Forest game to today, Baylor fans have always had irrationally high expectations for RG3 (I'll admit it), but he exceeded them. He should have no regrets. The things he has done do not lose meaning or significance if he decides to go to the NFL. He does not lose meaning or significance.

Now to the links after the jump.

  • Defense Holds Strong as No. 4 MBB Remains Perfect - Look at that headline again from the Official Athletic Site. Perfect. 16-0 on the season, Baylor's best start ever. The best possible start, period. To date, I don't think we at ODB have done justice to what this means. Our basketball team is #4 in the land. They just won what Doug Gottlieb called the best road victory for any team in the country this season. It was another game that Baylor teams from the past would never have pulled off. I can't speak for Pras or Therm, but I know that going forward, I am going to devote a lot more attention to this team because they deserve it.

A few more links about the game last night for a few different takes.

I'm going to put a poll up in a few minutes to gauge how people feel about RG3's decision (whether they would go or stay). If you follow me on twitter, retweet it so we can get more responses.

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