The Wacoan's Dilemma

Robert Griffin III being selected by the Redskins' has put the City of Waco in a strange place

It’d be hard to imagine that there’s been a more widely beloved sports figure in the history of Waco, Texas than Robert Griffin III, the man who brought the first ever Heisman Trophy to Baylor University and led the team to its most successful season in recent memory. But RGIII is no longer a Baylor Bear. He’s a Washington Redskin.

Now, from the handful of folks from Waco I’ve come across, I know that there are a good deal of Cowboys fans there. Fans that hate the Redskins, and most likely love Baylor and RG III. This disconnect intrigues me.

But not being a Wacoan myself, I wanted a clearer picture of the split between Houston and Dallas fans in Waco. I asked my friend Scott, who is a Wacoan, a Baylor fan, and a lifelong Cowboys’ fan.

“I only knew one family that were Oilers fans,” he said. “Everyone else was a diehard Cowboys fan.”

Added Scott’s Dad, sic: “THIS IS COWBOY COUNTRY--NEVER SEEN A TEXANS STICKER, FLAG OR EVEN JERSEY.”

So considering that Waco is Cowboy Country, as they say, what will these fans do? Do you turn on local hero Robert Griffin III to keep your allegiance to the Cowboys, or root for RGIII to the possible detriment of his new rivals to the south and your favorite team? Do you root for Griffin III when he’s not playing the Cowboys, even though it feels wrong to root for the Redskins under any circumstance?

These are tough questions, folks--so tough in fact that when I asked the aforementioned Waco pal how he felt about Robert Griffin III being a Redskin, he could muster just a word in response: “Sickening”

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