Seattle Seahawks linebacker and special teams ace Shaquem Griffin is a special player. He began his college career as a defensive back and was quite good there, only to make a position switch and become a pass-rushing, full-field-chasing linebacker for his final two seasons at the University of Central Florida, during which he tallied 33.5 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks.
He's also an exceptional athlete, testing in the 80th percentile for NFL linebackers at the 2018 combine. He measured in at 6-0 3/8 inches and 227 pounds on Friday afternoon. He had a 32 1/8-inch arm and a 66 4/8-inch wingspan. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds, did the three-cone drill in 6.95 seconds, and had a 35.5-inch vertical leap and a 9.75-foot broad jump. He also bench-pressed 225 pounds 20 times, despite the fact that he has only one hand.
Using a prosthetic on his left arm, @Shaquemgriffin just put up 20 reps on the bench press! 💪#NFLCombine @UCF_Football
— NFL (@NFL) March 3, 2018
📺: @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/fHS0b4Eb0s
Griffin's story has been told plenty of times now, but it's worth repeating: he was born with amniotic band syndrome and, when his parents caught him attempting to use a knife to self-amputate his fingers at four years old, they scheduled a medical amputation the following day. He blossomed into a top football prospect anyway (as did his twin brother, Seahawks corner Shaquill Griffin) and is now an NFL player.
And according to Griffin himself, this is the way it had to happen. Here's an excerpt from the Griffin twins' 60 Minutes interview.
Sharyn Alfonsi: People can't believe how good you are with one hand. How good would you be with two hands?
Shaquem Griffin: I probably wouldn't be that good.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Why?
Shaquem Griffin: I thought about it. I was like, "If I had two hands I don't think I'd be good as I am now." I think me having one hand made me work even harder than many other people.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What do you mean by that?
Shaquem Griffin: I feel like if you only put one hour in, I probably need to put in an hour and 30, or I need to put in two hours.
The feature on the brothers details the journey that has brought them to where they are now: teammates in Seattle. Shaquill is the team's No. 1 corner, while Shaquem is a backup linebacker who mostly plays on special teams. He has much bigger goals than that, though.
Sharyn Alfonsi: When will you say, "I've been successful?"
Shaquem Griffin: To the point where, you know – it's not about me having one hand, it's about me being a great football player. Don't matter if I am playing on special teams, don't matter if I am playing linebacker, I want to be the best at what I am doing.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Not being known as the guy with one hand. You wanna be known as the guy who--
Shaquem Griffin: Yeah, three, four or five-time Pro Bowler, guy who-- the guy who's known for just having a nose for the ball. Like, that's the guy I wanna be.
Watch the full video below.
