Central Florida linebacker Shaquem Griffin has been doin’ what most folks have thought was impossible his entire life. He’s been playin’ the game of football at a high level with only one hand. Well playas…he showed up at the NFL Combine on Saturday and gave everybody that was willin’ to watch a show.
Ole boy stepped up to bench press usin’ his prosthetic hand to hold the bar and put up 20 reps!!! The crowd went NUTS!!! He actually did more reps than some cats with two good hands.
When he was 4 years old he had his left hand amputated because of amniotic band syndrome, a congenital condition. However, that hasn’t kept him from bein’ an outstandin’ football player. He was a two year starter at UCF and was selected first-team All-American Athletic Conference both seasons.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Havin’ one hand doesn’t limit a person from bein’ great. It just limits the expectations that others have on that person from bein’ great. How do I know? Because I was born with only one full arm. Everywhere I’ve gone and every thing I’ve ever been involved in people have set limitations on me that I’ve had to destroy.
So I already know what Shaquem deals with on a daily basis. That’s why I was so excited to see him show up and show out like Big Momma used to say. He not only wants to prove that he belongs at the Combine but he’s out to prove that he’s a football player that deserves to be drafted.
After knockin’ down 20 reps the UCF linebacker had this to say, “My goal was six. I think I beat that by a lot. When I first got to training, I did like 11 reps. … just being able to do that, that was amazing. Hearing the crowd and having the juices flowing, I felt it. I didn’t know I had it in me, but it came out.”
Thanks Young Thunder Cat for reppin’ for all of us that are different from the rest that have to go through live always havin’ to prove to the rest of the world that we are just as good as everybody else. God didn’t make any mistakes when he made us. He just made us different so that we would always have to stay on top of our games!!! Salute my brother and keep holdin’ it down. Now you can stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) 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!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!