The only reason I even turned the NFL draft on this year was to see when and where Shaquem Griffin would go. In case you’ve been under a rock for the past several months he’s the kid from Central Florida that blew the top off of the NFL Combine with one hand. At age 4 his left hand was amputated as a result of pain in his fingers due to amniotic band syndrome, a congenital condition where his umbilical cord was wrapped around his hand durin’ birth.
I was personally interested in this kid because I was born with only one full arm. So I know what it’s like to be stared at, talked about and teased but most importantly, I know what it’s like for people to tell you what you can’t do. So Shaquem is my guy!!!
After not gettin’ a darn invite to the Combine until January 30th he walked into the buildin’ and owned it. He put on a prosthetic hand and did 20 reps of 225, more than most cats with two hands did and then he ran a 4.38 in the forty.
It wasn’t like he just climbed out of a hole bruh. He’d balled out at UCF as a two year starter. He was a first-team AAC selection in 2016 and he was named the MVP of the Peach Bowl in 2017 leadin’ his team to an undefeated season.
Well playas…on Saturday the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the fifth round with the 141st pick overall to join his twin brother Shaquill who was drafted last year with the 90th overall pick in the third round.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! God works in mysterious ways. Ole boy was in Dallas on Friday night hopin’ to get drafted in the third round. He was as clean as a chitterling at Big Momma’s house too. However, no one took a chance on him. As disappointin’ as that was he had to wait it out on Saturday.
However, God had other plans. His brother Shaquill turned down all kinds of major scholarships while they were comin’ out of high school because none of those schools offered his twin brother with one hand. UCF was the only school that was willin’ to take the package deal so they rolled out.
Isn’t it amazin’ how God works? These two kids have been inseperable their entire lives and now with the biggest challenge of Shaquem’s life comin’ to the NFL he gets his support system back. Just because you get drafted doesn’t mean that you automatically make the team. By havin’ his brother there with him is a blessin’.
Now don’t get it twisted, he’s goin’ to make the team because he’s got somethin’ inside of him that 99.9999% of people don’t have and that’s the will to win in life. This has nothin’ to do with football playa. He’s got a fire that burns all day and night because he knows that everybody’s lookin’ for him to fail. He knows that nobody would be upset if he didn’t make it because they’ve already got a built in excuse as to why he shouldn’t.
How do I know that? Because I’ve lived in his head my entire life. I may not be in the NFL but I’ve lived in this world with only one full arm and everybody’s had an excuse as to why I shouldn’t be successful. It’s not like people of hopin’ for me to fail. They would just understand if I did. So every day I wake up to prove the world wrong just like Shaquem. Hey Young Thunder Cat! Go get what’s yours! Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Ole boy: noun – the person that I’m currently talkin’ about.
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”