I'm always gonna be smiling. I'm always gonna be in a good mood.
Shaquem Griffin
Nobody was ever going to tell me that I didn't belong on a football field. And nobody was ever going to tell me that I couldn't be great.
If you got a disability or a handicap, that means you're limited to certain things. And I don't feel like I'm limited to nothing. I can do anything anybody else can do.
I don't define myself by my successes. I define myself by adversity and how I've persevered.
There is no limit to what I can do.
There were so many stories and so many instances where I had guys telling me that this game was for two-handed players and not for one-handed players, and I'll go out here and get myself hurt.
I'm not going to see anybody else in the mirror. That's how I live, day by day. When I look in the mirror, it's up to me to accomplish everything I want out of life.
When you can get o-linemen guessing about what you're going to do, that means you're already winning before you start.
A lot of people in our generation like to make excuses about little things that really don't hinder them from doing what they want to. It always comes down to the work ethic.
I never let one hand stop me from doing what I needed to do to get down field and win games.
A lot of people say, 'Do you feel a lot of pressure?' There's not that much pressure, to be honest.
If you think you're gonna have pity on me or take it easy on me, then I'm gonna have to help you off your back.
The only thing you are really here to do is play football. So when you get a chance to go to the draft, and that part is over with, and you get signed on to a team, and you're ready to go, now it's back to everything you've been doing to get to this point, and that's play football.
No matter if you have one hand or two hands, when someone tells you you can't do something, the only thing you can do is just prove them wrong, no matter what it is, no matter how hard it is.
When I started lifting weights, I remember I could barely bench the bar. I mean, I'm shaking all over the place, the bar's falling, and I'm like, 'I can't lift 45 pounds,' but it just goes to show how much work I put in.
As long as I'm going fast and making plays, they're going to forget how many hands I have.
My dad owns his own towing business, and my dad used to tow Hulk Hogan's cars back and forth from Clearwater to different shops and stuff. And they had a relationship where when the cars would get done getting fixed, he'd pick it back up and take it back to Hulk Hogan's house.
I never was a person who let people who have their ideas and their expectations of me dictate who I became.
Anywhere I go - if it's in the country, out of the country - someone is going to know you.
I want to be able to show NFL teams, Whatever you need help at, I can play it.
I think I've been doing pretty well with showing people what I really can do.
I looked into the rule book, and I never seen a rule of only two-handed players can play football.
Please don't tell me what I can't do.
I get underestimated every single day.
I think me having one hand made me work even harder than many other people.
I give all thanks to God. But I'm just here to play football.
I don't know how far, I don't know where I'm going to be or where I'm going to go, but I know this - if a team comes to grab me, I know they're going to get a special player, and I'm ready to show them what I can do and make sure I can contribute.
You're not disabled unless you say 'I'm disabled.'
Even without football, football doesn't define Shaquem Griffin. It's who he can help that defines him.
People don't wanna take a chance. And I just feel like that's what it was, it's like that in every single level I've been in, from little league to high school and college.
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.
Everybody in this world deserves to show what they can do without anybody telling them they can't.
The more I show what I'm going through, the more I can give answers, the more I can help those on the outside looking in.
I remember there was a time when I didn't get any attention at all. There was a time when I didn't have anybody asking what was going on and what I had to overcome, so it feels good.
When I was at UCF, I played a lot of different positions, so I don't feel uncomfortable moving around.
It doesn't matter where I play at - as long as I get an opportunity to help better my team in any aspect, I'll play anything.
It's nothing, really, for me to be able to say it's overwhelming or anything. It's just - you do the interviews, you interact with everybody, and you make sure that, at the end of the day, you focus on why you're here, and that's to play football and make sure I can contribute as a teammate.
I'm going to keep proving people wrong because I have a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of doubters.
My expectations for myself were really high.
I'm gonna be called Shaquem Griffin the football player, not Shaquem Griffin the one-hand wonder.
I knew no matter how good I did, no matter everything that I pushed for, there's always gonna be some type of doubt. Some people want to put limitations on what I can do.
Usually, I don't just talk and not back it up.
A lot of people see somebody who has one hand and not two, and they think it doesn't make sense. It's like, 'He has one hand, so how can he play football?' What if I say, 'You have two hands. How can you play football?'
I always tell everybody, if I can inspire one, they can inspire one more, and I can inspire a thousand later.
If you have two hands or 30 hands, show me what you can do, and we'll go from there.
You want me to play kicker or punter, all I gotta do is get a good stretch in and warm my foot up. I think I can kick the ball, too.
It's no better feeling than coming into a game being the underdog, and everybody going around telling you you can't win, and people say we going to lose by this much and that much.
I took a couple footballs to the face before I learned to catch.
I've played football one-handed. I've played football with no hands.
Me holding a grudge is not going to help me. It's not going to make me any better.
