Why Robert Griffin III is pursuing his Olympic dream again, 20 years after his first try

Robert Griffin III's venture into flag football isn't his first attempt to make an Olympic team. Back in 2008, the summer before his first football season at Baylor, Griffin was an elite 400m hurdler. He was the joint-29th-fastest man in the world that year in one of the most arduous track and field events for its combination of a long sprint and having to clear a set of 10 barriers each three feet high.

Griffin reached the semifinals of the 2008 Olympic Trials. In the video atop this post, he's the runner in lane two in the white Baylor uniform. He placed fifth in his semi, where the top four advanced to the eight-man final that determined the three Olympians.

That was essentially the end of Griffin's track career. He went to Waco, became a Heisman Trophy winner and played in the NFL through 2020. Then in March, Griffin announced he was suiting up again to pursue the U.

S. flag football team for the LA28 Games, where the sport makes its Olympic debut. Griffin, now 36, is making good on a declaration from a video published in 2013 .