Griffin may be the only one-handed gamer in NFL history, having lost his left hand at the age of four due to a prenatal condition, according to the NFL internet site .
“The the come for me to retire from professional soccer, ” Griffin stated in a statement launched on The Players’ Tribune .
“Honestly, it’s still a little surreal. After everything I’ve been by means of in my life — all the hard work, all the doubters — really almost unthinkable that I’m hangin’ up and moving on in the game of football, ” Griffin added.
The 27-year-old free agent declared that while he is walking away from his career as a player, he could be not leaving the particular league.
Instead, he or she recently accepted an offer from NFL office Roger Goodell to join the NFL Stories Community — a league-run program exactly where veterans help current and former gamers transition into and out of the game.
“It’s the resource to provide assistance and support to players in whichever they might be going through or even trying to achieve, including assisting with local community service initiatives, inch Griffin said.
“It’s time for me to implement my Plan A. I know the positive impact I’m having on others. I’m speaking on colleges and universities, talking to soccer teams and even showcasing to corporate The united states about never questioning yourself and unceasingly pursuing your desires.
“People at companies wish to hear what I have to say when actually I am the one that can get so smart from them. It’s insane, ” he additional.
Griffin initial caught the attention from the league at the 2018 NFL Scouting Mix, when he sprinted a 40-yard splash in 4. 37 seconds, which placed first among linebackers present in Indianapolis at the time.
The University of Central Florida recruit was consequently drafted in the fifth circular to the Seattle Seahawks, a year after the team picked his cal king brother Shaquill Griffin in the third round.
After playing fouthy-six games across three seasons, Griffin joined up with the Miami Dolphins as a free real estate agent but was cut prior to the 2021 season.
He or she unsuccessfully tried out intended for numerous other teams and later told his agent that unless he had a chance to play alongside his brother at the Gambling, he did not want to play in the little league.
“I know a lot of people might not understand that method. There are so many guys out there working hard, just wishing for an opportunity, any possibility, and here I am limiting them. Believe me personally, I get it. However, you have to understand some thing about me, ” Griffin said. “Football was always Program B.
“My dad utilized to tell me and my brother that. As children we had dreamed of playing together in the NFL, but whenever we talked about it, our father would remind all of us that if we made it to the league — especially if we have got to play together — that would be an added blessing. A bonus. Plan A was to go to college, get an training and do something that might make a positive effect in the world, ” he or she added.
Figures from across the football entire world paid tribute in order to Griffin’s career.
“A true inspiration around the field. A better individual off of it. Your story will be remembered for generations, inch the Seattle Seahawks tweeted .
“True Tale, ” his sibling Shaquill posted .
“Shaquem Griffin showed the world anything is possible in the 2018 Combine, ” the NFL said. “A true inspiration. Congrats on your pension, @Shaquemgriffin. ”