I couldn't ask for anything in the world than to be with my brother.
— Shaquem Griffin
I don't feel like I'm overwhelmed from meeting people and telling my story over and over again.
I got to prove myself every single day. I'm not going to get comfortable where I'm at.
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.
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.
I can't let anybody tell me what I'm going to be.
I looked into the rule book, and I never seen a rule of only two-handed players can play football.
I remember after the surgery, the next day, my mom was like, you know, 'Don't get your bandage dirty. Don't go outside and throw the ball.' But I came back inside with a football in my hand with a bloody bandage, but I knew I felt better. And I was just happy to play.
As long as I'm going fast and making plays, they're going to forget how many hands I have.
It doesn't feel like anything I have is a disability because I can do anything I put my mind to.
It was like a roller coaster at UCF, with highs and lows, but overall, it was a good ride. You look at the stadium and see 'National Champions.' It doesn't get any better than that.
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.
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 always tell everybody, if I can inspire one, they can inspire one more, and I can inspire a thousand later.
I think I've been doing pretty well with showing people what I really can do.
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.
Anywhere I go - if it's in the country, out of the country - someone is going to know you.
I do what I do. I live my life the way I've been living it.
I give all thanks to God. But I'm just here to play football.
You'll never see me coming around the corner not smiling... I mean, I enjoy every moment.
Having faith and trust that one day things will be greater, it sometimes is the one thing you need to stay positive in a negative situation.
There is no limit to what I can do.
I never was a person who let people who have their ideas and their expectations of me dictate who I became.
I refused to let my brother down, because he sacrificed for me. And I always told him, 'As long as one of us playing football, we both playing football.'
I'm always gonna be smiling. I'm always gonna be in a good mood.
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.
My mom saw me do my first pull-up my freshman year, and she's emotional, and she started crying. She walked out, and I thought, 'You've got to let her be sometimes.' She does that.
Me holding a grudge is not going to help me. It's not going to make me any better.
I've played football one-handed. I've played football with no hands.
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.
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 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.
My expectations for myself were really high.
A lot of people say, 'Do you feel a lot of pressure?' There's not that much pressure, to be honest.
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.
It was a competitive household. If I wanted to win at something, I had to work for it. It made me understand I could do anything I put my mind to.
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.
At some point, your physical ability, it can't be the only thing you rely on.
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.
I never let one hand stop me from doing what I needed to do to get down field and win games.
Even without football, football doesn't define Shaquem Griffin. It's who he can help that defines him.
I want to be able to show NFL teams, Whatever you need help at, I can play it.
I'm not just a feel-good story.
Obviously, it was tough for me, coming from high school and being that guy who was always playing and then having to sit and wait my turn... Mentally, it was taxing.
You're not disabled unless you say 'I'm disabled.'
I took a couple footballs to the face before I learned to catch.
If you have two hands or 30 hands, show me what you can do, and we'll go from there.
Usually, I don't just talk and not back it up.
I'm gonna be called Shaquem Griffin the football player, not Shaquem Griffin the one-hand wonder.
