General Malaise
Footballguy
Was just going to post the story I read about him this week.....mr. furley said:https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-next-one-handed-shaquem-griffin-195159947.html
this guy is playing college football at a high level with one hand. might be a source of inspiration?? i have no idea
What happened to the "Spoiler" tags? I know you guys can use them, but I don't have an option on my panel when I reply. I have link, quote, code then smiley face. No option for spoilers.
Well, you call can read this. It's a good read.
ORLANDO — At UCF, they call it “City ball, Country ball.”
If there are a lot of players around a fumble, it’s a city ball, and you have to jump on it. But if there is open space, it’s a country ball, and you try to scoop it up.
UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin doesn’t have a left hand, but he executed country ball to perfection last Saturday, scooping up a fumble with his right hand and returning it 20 yards for his first collegiate touchdown in UCF’s 73-33 win over Austin Peay.
“It was bouncing, and I might miss it, but I could jump on it still,” Griffin told The All-American. “Once it stuck to my glove, I said, ‘Oh, man, just keep going.’ I didn’t know if there’d be a flag. I didn’t know if it’d count. I just kept running until I got in the end zone. I had to do my celebration in the end zone. That was awesome.”
Griffin’s left hand was amputated when he was four years old, a result of being born with amniotic band syndrome. It kept his hand from fully developing and caused his fingers to constantly have a burning feeling.
But it never kept him away from football. Last year, Griffin was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. This year, he leads a Knights defense that leads all AAC teams in scoring defense (19.7 points per game, No. 25 nationally). No. 18 UCF is sitting at 7-0 and eyeing an undefeated regular season and a New Year’s Six berth as it heads to SMU on Saturday.
“My whole thing was, when I had an opportunity to play, just give everything I’ve got and let it do the talking for me,” he said. “I was never a guy to brag or talk about how good I am. I just want to give everything I’ve got and let that do the talking for me. They gave me a chance, and I just played as hard as I can.”
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Last Saturday may have been Griffin’s first collegiate touchdown, but it wasn’t the first touchdown of his life.
His twin brother Shaquill is currently a starting cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, but he was a fierce fullback at 10 years old, constantly opening holes for Shaquem when they were growing up in St. Petersburg.
“Every time I got the ball, he’d make a good block and I’d take off to the end zone,” Shaquem said. “It’s crazy when you’ve got your brother in front of you and you know if I stick behind him, he’d sacrifice his body to let me get free. We’d come back and celebrate.”
Before this year, the Griffin brothers had played on the same teams ever since they were four years old. Shaquill is the slightly older twin and always played the role of the protective older brother. When Shaquem lost his hand, that only amplified.
“I remember he got the ball, and I was blocking anybody in front, making sure they didn’t touch him,” Shaquill told The All-American. “That’s one thing I’ll never forget, when I got to really protect him. That’s what it felt like blocking for him.”
Growing up, they made a pact that they’d always be there for each other.
“I felt so protective of him,” Shaquill said. “We made a bond that we’d stick together, no matter what. We were going to have each other’s backs. It’s something we’d stuck by since we were little. I wasn’t going to let a college or coach separate us doing that. We stuck by each other’s side, and we had a chance to take care of each other.”
Shaquem (left) and his brother Shaquill Griffin (right) had played on the same team every year until this year. Shaquill was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks. (Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Coming out of high school, Shaquill was a three-star prospect with a number of impressive offers and interest. Shaquem didn’t get the same attention, in part due to only having one hand. But if you wanted to recruit Shaquill, you also had to take Shaquem. The older twin wouldn’t have it any other way.
“He had to protect him sometimes. He had to speak up for him at some times,” sister-in-law Ronke Griffin told The All-American. “Not to say Shaquem wouldn’t speak up for himself, but it was that protective big brother role. ‘He’s no different than you. He can do anything you can do. If you’re going to go through anyone, it’s me first.'”
So a young defensive backs coach at UCF had an idea.
Kirk Callahan joined George O’Leary’s UCF staff in February 2012 in his first full-time coaching job, so the class of 2013 was his first opportunity in putting together a recruiting class. He saw two talented players in the Griffins. He needed to make sure the rest of the staff did, too.
“When I presented the film to our defensive staff, it was a no-brainer for Shaquill, and they said it was a no-brainer for Shaquem. The funny thing was I didn’t inform anybody that Shaquem had one hand,” Callahan told The All-American. “I did the same thing presenting it to George O’Leary.”
Eventually, Callahan had to explain the full story.
“At the time, I was 26 years old, the secondary coach, and I went to George O’Leary and told him I wanted to sign these twins, and one has one hand. He looked at me like I had two heads coming out of my neck and said, ‘You’re telling me, on your first recruiting class, you want to sign a kid with one hand?’ I said I did.”
The Griffins were invited to camp and lived up to the tape, whether with two hands or one.
“The best thing that sold them on coming was that Coach O’Leary said he wouldn’t recruit one without the other,” Callahan said. “He wouldn’t take a commitment from one of them unless both were coming.”
Shaquem was originally signed to play safety, but it didn’t click. He redshirted as a freshman, while Shaquill played at cornerback. Then Shaquem played in one game as a redshirt freshman and 12 as a sophomore, but mostly just on special teams. That year, UCF went 0-12, and O’Leary retired during the season.
Shaquem wanted an opportunity to show he could do more. A new coaching staff would give it to him.
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UCF defensive coordinator Erik Chinander didn’t watch much film before arriving with head coach Scott Frost after the 2015 season. He asked retained assistants Sean Beckton and Travis Fisher about players who could use a position change, and Shaquem’s name came up.
“They said his effort was unbelievable and they couldn’t block him on scout team for two years. I said, ‘Great, let’s do it,’” Chinander told The All-American. “Then they said, ‘By the way, he’s got one hand.’ I was like, what? What does it actually mean? I had no idea what to expect.”
“Then you meet the kid, his personality is contagious, and you don’t know what to think. I was probably just like everybody else for a while. Let’s put him out there, but I don’t think it’ll work.”
One of Griffin's two sacks so far this season came in an October win over Cincinnati. (Photo: Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports)
It finally clicked for Shaquem.
“Then he starts to play, and you move him up to second string. He makes a lot of plays, and you move him up,” Chinander said. “Before long, you forget he has one hand. We don’t say in our staff room, ‘I can’t believe he did that with one hand.’ He does everything.”
As a junior linebacker, Shaquem recorded 92 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, one interception and two fumbles forced and recovered, earning AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
“I didn’t know how he could function with one hand, to be honest with you,” Frost told The All-American. “The amazing thing is, after two practices, you forget that’s even an issue. It just never shows up. I haven’t seen one play on the field that he should have made but couldn’t because he has one hand. He’s a special kid. There’s a little more grit inside him because of who he is and what he’s been through. He’s one of our leaders and a guy we’re counting on.”
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The Knights improved from 0-12 to 6-7 in Frost’s first season. But heading into year two, UCF lost seven defensive starters, including Shaquill, who was drafted in the third round.
For the first time, Shaquem and Shaquill are on different teams. They still communicate every day, but it’s been a lesson in growing in different ways.
“We’ve had an opportunity to figure ourselves out man for man,” Shaquem said. “Growing up, we were always so close. We always made decisions based on each other. Now that we’re separated, we’ve been able to grow as men. It’s important to have that time alone to figure out who you are.”
On his own, Shaquem came up with a wild idea for fall camp: He would live in the football building for the duration of camp, which was more than a month from late July to late August. Shaquill’s leadership was gone from the Knights. It was up to Shaquem to fill that role, so he wanted to lead by example.
He had an air mattress in the linebackers room to sleep on overnight, there was plenty of food available in the building, and he spent most of his free time watching film. Redshirt freshman defensive end Dedrion Bacote also stayed with him as a de facto roommate.
“It was my last camp, and I wanted to do something no one would think of doing,” Shaquem said. “It was kind of scary at first, but it was very beneficial. I was able to not only correct my mistakes, but see others’ mistakes, and it allowed me to teach myself over and over where the plays come second nature. I was able to watch film of other teams. The only thing I could do was watch film. When you’re doing that for a month and a half, you learn a little.”
Shaquem is no longer a secret this season, and opposing offenses have game-planned for him. On the year, Griffin has 37 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, but he still knows how to make an impact, forcing a red zone fumble with his left arm while sacking Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson in the Knights’ biggest win of the season. He’s also dropping into man coverage for the first time since the position switch.
“Everybody knows who he is now, and they’re not going to let him ruin a game,” Chinander said. “Last year, he ruined a couple games for the other teams. They’re not letting that happen, doing some things to him where he can’t make as many splash plays, but other guys have made plays. He’s doing other jobs, things that don’t get noticed by fans, helping our team tremendously.”
Shaquill is excelling in the NFL as a rookie right now. Could it be in Shaquem’s future? Don’t count him out.
“They all love his film,” Chinander said of NFL scouts. “I think some don’t even know he’s missing a hand. They call about him and say, ‘Player of the year, we’ve heard about him, watched him. What can you tell us about him?’ You’re curious what you’re going to do when you bring him in front of the GM. Some guys don’t even know. They’re taken off-guard. That’s a credit to the kid, that you wouldn’t even notice.”
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Shaquem’s phone was blowing up all weekend after his touchdown. It made him feel like he was an offensive player. But Shaquill had to rag on him like any brother.
“He was telling me how slow I was moving,” Shaquem said, laughing. “I told him I’d have had more yards if it opened up, but it was right there.”
In reality, Shaquill was telling everyone on the Seahawks about the score. Their parents kept sending Shaquem different videos of the play, so excited.
Shaquem has always had a family support system, but the lack of a left hand has never slowed him down. This year, he’s taking the next step on his own in more ways than one.
“To the world, it’s new. But to us, it’s been so much hard work in everything he does,” Ronke Griffin said. “He doesn’t go 100 percent. He always goes 110 percent, because he knows he may have those one or two doubters. He wants to show that not only can he do everything, but he can help others do anything. For us to see him get awards, we’re overwhelmed with that, because we always knew he deserved it, and now it’s paying off. It’s OK when his family is telling him he’s great. When the world sees it, it’s something different that makes him go even harder.”
wait a minute
