There is actually a phrase for this.
“The Michael Vick Treatment”
When Vick was with the Falcons, new owner Arthur Blank treated him like King. Famously pushing Vick around in a wheelchair when he was hurt.
It looks like Mike Shanahan didn’t want to hang around while Dan Snyder was doing the same to RG3. ESPN has the report.
As speculation mounts about Mike Shanahan’s future in Washington, details have emerged about the coach’s dissatisfaction with the relationship between owner Dan Snyder and quarterbackRobert Griffin III.
Disillusioned with the way Snyder was running the organization, Shanahan cleaned out his office in advance of January’s wild-card playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks and expected to leave the team whenever the season ended, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The source said Shanahan had grown tired of the way Snyder empowered Griffin and openly esteemed him above all other players. Shanahan didn’t blame Griffin but did blame Snyder for creating an atmosphere that Shanahan did not believe was conducive to winning. Shanahan privately told people close to him that he felt Snyder’s behavior with regard to Griffin was a “complete farce.”
Snyder regularly sent his security team to accompany Griffin when he went out in Washington. Snyder’s personal driver was spotted picking up Griffin’s then-fiancee (now wife) at road games.
But it wasn’t just Snyder’s relationship with Griffin that irked Shanahan. It was also the way in which he dealt with employees who had less star power than his star quarterback, sources said. After Kirk Cousins relieved an injured Griffin last December in Cleveland and led Washington to a 38-21 victory over the Browns, players and coaches spotted Snyder standing at the quarterbacks’ lockers, talking only to Griffin while, one source said, Snyder “didn’t acknowledge” Cousins.
The Redskins PR people says the story is untrue, but it appears that Shanahan is on his way out. I don’t think it is unusual for star quarterbacks to get special treatment, but because Snyder is so disliked I can see how it could rub people the wrong way.