Within days of Griffin’s debut on September 9, 2012, a seated arms-up touchdown celebration had a name: Griffining. As photographs circulated, reporters asked what the quarterback thought of the sudden attention.
The first reaction
The NFL’s September 11 report documented Griffin responding on social media the previous day to a comparison between Griffining and Tebowing. His response suggested that he was amused rather than offended.
A September 12 press conference
An Associated Press account published September 12 records Griffin finding the trend funny and acknowledging that a touchdown pass made while he was being hit had unexpectedly inspired a phenomenon. He noted that teammates had joked about it, and he did not plan to stop fans from enjoying themselves.
The original pose was spontaneous: Griffin sat up after being hit as Pierre Garçon raced away with an 88-yard completion. Fans subsequently made that unusual posture into a deliberately staged photograph. That contrast was central to the joke.
RG3 joined his own meme
After Washington beat Tampa Bay on September 30, The Washington Post documented Griffin recreating the pose with Olympic medalist Kellie Wells. The image showed that the quarterback was happy to participate in the trend associated with him.
A brief timeline
September 9: the 88-yard touchdown. September 10–11: fans share photographs and Griffin reacts on social media. September 12: he talks with reporters about the phenomenon. September 30: he recreates the pose with Kellie Wells.
This is modern historical commentary, not an original 2012 Griffining.com post. See the early fan-photo source guide for the provenance of the first surviving examples.