NFL draft: One-handed linebacker joins twin brother in Seattle
RENTON, WASH.— Shaquem Griffin had walked away from his cellphone, on his way to use the restroom, when it buzzed. His twin brother, Shaquill, recognized the 425 area code that flashed on the screen and started charging after his brother.
“I think I was more scared of him tackling me in the bathroom and not knowing what was happening than anything,” Shaquem said.
What already was the feelgood story of the NFL draft got an even better storybook end- ing on Saturday when the Central Florida star linebacker whose left hand was amputated when he was child was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round.
The phone call from Seattle general manager John Schneider set off a wild celebration within the Griffin family, which had gathered at a hotel in the Dallas area after Shaquem spent the first two days at the draft in Arlington, Texas, waiting for a phone call that never came. It was the Seahawks — the team that showed the most interest in Griffin from the start — who gave Shaquem the chance at his professional aspirations and, with it, a chance to be reunited with his brother.
Shaquill, who was a thirdround pick by the Seahawks in 2017, became a starter in his rookie season. The brothers played together throughout their youth and at UCF before Shaquill entered the NFL.
“I couldn’t ask for anything (else) in the world than the opportunity to be back with him,” Shaquem said.
Added Shaquill: “I was going to be happy no matter what team gave him the opportunity. At the end of the day, that’s all I wanted for him: for a team to give him a shot and give him an opportunity and take a chance on someone that is great.”
Griffin was the player everyone was hoping would get a shot in the NFL after being a star at UCF despite playing with just one hand. He was the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year in 2016 and the MVP of UCF’s Peach Bowl victory against Auburn last season when the Knights went 13-0.
A groundswell of support got him an invitation to the scouting combine in Indianapolis, where he stunned onlookers by benchpressing 225 pounds a staggering 20 times with a prosthetic left hand and then covered the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds. The performance at the combine turned Shaquem into a star, but it didn’t guarantee a team would give him a shot.