Shaquem Griffin - Nothing Comes Easy: Family, Faith, Then Football

2019 Shaquem Griffin and Shaquill Griffin

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ISBN 978-0-7852-3084-7 (eBook)

Epub Edition May 2019 9780785230847

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019903874

ISBN 978-0-7852-3081-6

Printed in the United States of America

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To Our Inspired Youth This Generation and Next:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you...

Jeremiah 1:5

CONTENTS

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SHAQUEM

It was April 27, 2018. My family and I were sitting in a luxury suite at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, for the second day of the NFL Draft. League executives had asked me to attend, an invitation usually reserved for players projected to go in the first round. They invited my family and me to walk the red carpet, to be front and center at the event. I guess the league wanted to celebrate the moment when a team drafted the first player with a limb differencethe first with only one handin the modern era of the NFL.

I thought it would be a great occasion for my family and friends to celebrate everything we had accomplished together. In my heart, though, I was uncertain if it would be much fun for me. There was still a lot of uncertainty about my draft position. Most mock draft projections had me going anywhere from the second to the sixth round. In the past, I had watched the invited players slide as the draft progressed from round to round, and I could see how uncomfortable it gets when youre the last prospect sitting in the green room, after teams have selected everyone else invited to be there in person. I certainly had no desire to be the lonely prospect the NFL Network and ESPN kept showing on TV every thirty minutes.

On the opening night of the draft, I watched as NFL teams selected thirty-two players, including five quarterbacks, in the first round. After those players heard their names called, their lives would never be the same. The last pick of the first round, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner, would sign a four-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens worth $9.47 million, including a signing bonus of nearly $5 million. Its like winning the lottery when an NFL team drafts you that early.

When the first round ended, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent for me at the end of the night and asked me to come back the next day. The commissioner told me he was certain that an NFL team was going to draft me by the end of the second round, if not sooner. He wanted me to come onstage with him when he announced my name. My family and friends were all having a good time, so I agreed to come back the next day.

On Friday night, two more rounds came and went, with sixty-eight more players chosen, but I still was not among them. Three of my University of Central Florida (UCF) teammates were drafted in those first three rounds: cornerback Mike Hughes to the Minnesota Vikings, wide receiver TreQuan Smith to the New Orleans Saints, and tight end Jordan Akins to the Houston Texans. I was extremely happy for them, but I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to hear my name called.

At the start of that night, there were only three other prospects with me in the green room who hadnt been pickedIowa cornerback Josh Jackson, Texas guard Connor Williams, and Louisiana State University running back Derrius Guiceand each of them was selected by the end of the second round. They left AT&T Stadium and went somewhere else to celebrate with family and friends. So guess what? I was that lonely one in the green room that nobody wants to be.

I was the last man standing, and that wasnt a good thing. I was confused and embarrassed. After hearing a few more names called in the third round, I was ready to leave. So were my family and friends. My parents could see the frustration in my face. Why wasnt I being drafted? Why didnt NFL teams want me? Hadnt I showed them enough in college, at the Senior Bowl, and again at the NFL Combine? I had better statistics and tested better than many of the players that teams selected ahead of me.

Once we returned to the hotel, I decided I was going to go out with my brothers to blow off steam. My dad, Terry Griffin, didnt think it was a good idea. He thought I needed to stay at the hotel with my family instead of going to a restaurant or nightclub with my brothers. We argued for a few minutes, and then I completely lost it.

Im not a very emotional personmy identical twin brother, Shaquill, is typically the one who wears his emotions on his sleevebut I broke down that night in the hotel room. It was like every ounce of frustration and anger came pouring out of me. Everything I had buried deep inside me for so long came out that night.

Yall dont know what its like to be me, I told my parents. Shaquill is the only one who understands me. Yall dont know what I go through. I worked hard to get where Im at now. When everybody else is giving 100 percent, I have to give 110 percent. Its still not enough. Its not fair. Why me?

I believed everything I had accomplished at Central Floridaall of my statistics, accolades, and awardsdidnt matter to NFL teams in the end. No matter what I did, others were going to judge me unfairly for having only one hand. My family, friends, and fans saw me smiling when I was standing on the sideline or a reporter was interviewing me on TV. They werent aware of the pain and frustration I was hiding.

No one else understood my anger besides Shaquill, because I had confided in him over the years. It was like I was living two lives, with a demon lurking inside of me. I couldnt hide my anger and pain anymore.