Former Seattle Seahawk and National Football League (NFL) icon Shaquem Griffin paid a visit to CWU on Feb. 13 to share a message entitled “From Pain to Purpose. From Dreams to Reality”. Students and staff packed the SURC ballroom as Griffin detailed his journey to the NFL and spoke on ways to overcome adversity.

Griffin made history as he was the NFL’s first-ever one-handed player. He was born with a rare condition called amniotic band syndrome which led to immense pain in the left hand. Eventually, when he was four years old, the pain became strong enough that his mother found him with a kitchen knife attempting to cut the digits on his hand off. At that point, it was clear to the Griffin family that if they wanted their son to be free of this pain, it meant they had to amputate his hand.

Growing up his family never treated him any different from his identical twin brother Shaquill.  Griffin emphasized his family’s message of never letting him say he can’t do something and to not let his condition be an excuse or hold him back from what he wanted to do.

He and his brother would eventually find their way to the University of Central Florida (UCF) where he was faced with even more adversity there. He watched his brother play cornerback for the school as he was buried in the depth chart and even had his scholarship revoked. 

“My brother made a lot of sacrifices for me. My first three years of college, I didn’t play and got kicked out of school,” Griffin said. “The coaches wanted to see if my brother could do well without me. He [Coach] didn’t think football was a fit. So now I’m at home working two jobs not knowing about my opportunity to even get back into football let alone school. I’m on a full-ride scholarship and everything was just taken away.”

The brothers have always been a package deal. Griffin

mentioned during the event that growing up, the twins wanted to do everything with each other, whether it was playing on the same team or hoping they would one day also marry identical twins. The brothers always stuck together, pushing each other to be better players, people and leaders. 

He eventually found himself back on scholarship to play for the UCF Knights once again where he made the most of his next opportunity. In 2016 he was awarded American Athletic Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Year. 

The following season he was once again the defensive catalyst of the team and was a key player in UCF’s undefeated regular season play which earned them the AAC championship. That season also saw Griffin and the Knights advance to the College Football National Championship where their storybook season came to an end. 

The support system that you surround yourself with is one of the keys to overcoming adversity according to Griffin. “What stood out is my brother believed in me so much, and even though I lacked it, I was able to hold onto his belief he had in me,” Griffin said. “He wasn’t going to allow me to lose faith. So you know what? I’m going to hold onto what you have, then I was able to see it for myself. I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t believe it.”

With his talent on full display at UCF he eventually caught the attention of NFL scouts and after a long time waiting, he was invited to the NFL combine. The combine is an event where NFL draftees go and show off their athletic abilities with events such as the 40-yard dash, bench press, high jump, long jump and other trials to push the athletes. 

Lots of eyes were on Griffin as he put on a show when he broke the record for the fastest 40-yard dash by a linebacker with a time of 4.38 seconds. It didn’t stop there as he impressed scouts with his strength as well, using a prosthetic hand to help him bench press 225 pounds for 20 reps. All his hard work brought him to Seattle with pick 141 in the draft to reunite him with his brother making them the first set of twins in the NFL to play on the same team. 

“During the draft it was a lot of emotions because I was projected to go high in the draft … It was supposed to happen how it did because I wouldn’t have ended up in Seattle if I went higher,” Griffin said. “I did everything I was supposed to do. I’m the highest rank this and that. Why haven’t I got a shot? Just to find out I ended up falling enough in the draft to be selected by the Seattle Seahawks and play alongside my brother. So it’s like people ask ‘would you change it?’ No, not now. I would never change it because I wouldn’t have received the opportunity. What’s the odds to become the first twins ever drafted to the same team? … I wouldn’t want that change, I don’t want that change for nothing in the world.”

During the 2020 divisional round of the NFL

playoffs, the Seahawks were facing the Green Bay Packers and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award winner Aaron Rodgers. Griffin got to the MVP quarterback and took him down for a sack but not without the help of a teammate. When he looked up, he saw none other than his brother Shaquille as they both took down a future Hall of Fame player together. Griffin stated it was such a big moment for him and his brother that he will one day have a mural of that moment in his home. 

Adversity was not only faced by Griffin in his football career. While speaking to CWU staff, students and faculty he mentioned circumstances of prejudice he has faced referencing a time when he was pulled over by an officer who was overly aggressive and ready to detain him until the other cop came over and recognized who they had pulled over. Griffin’s message for anyone who finds themselves in a moment like this is the same message his father always told him, “Just get home”. Growing up as a kid who was missing a hand and was black, he experienced plenty of prejudice and stated that he thought it was normal.

Griffin retired early from the NFL to help others and that is exactly what he has done since. Apart from being a motivational speaker detailing the hurdles of his journey, he has also written two books and mentioned in the SURC ballroom that he is working with a company to make prosthetics that are a third of the price of the ones on the market now. 

“The takeaway from my story is it’s something transparent that all of us went through something before to be where we are at now. I’m just a reminder,” Griffin said. “That’s the thing about support systems and stuff around you, sometimes you need those reminders. You get used to overcoming and overcoming and overcoming and stuff like that, and sometimes you forget where you came from. That’s where you need people like myself to be able to remind you to overcome, don’t get complacent, don’t get tired because your next adversity may be the hardest one. But it doesn’t mean you can’t overcome it, it’s only going to prepare you and set you up for the blessings that you will receive after you overcome it.”