Shaquem Griffin, the only known one-handed player in NFL history, has decided to call it a career as a player.
Griffin announced his retirement from football Wednesday in a self-written post at The Players’ Tribune — titled “Plan A” — but he’s not leaving the NFL.
At a recent meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Griffin accepted a position to join the league’s NFL Legends Community, assisting retired players and helping mentor current and former players on “everything from the transition into and out of the game to how to navigate mental health issues. It’s a resource to provide guidance and support to players in whatever they might be going through or trying to achieve, including assisting with community service initiatives,” Griffin wrote.
Griffin said this conversation with Goodell and a few other people at brunch during Super Bowl week helped him see his path to this next phase of his life. Upon the morning of his retirement, Griffin appeared on Good Morning Football to elaborate on the next stage of his journey.
“Plan A, for me, was always to help people,” Griffin said on Wednesday. “You know, not knowing how it was going to look, not knowing how it was going to come about, but I always want to pave that way to help anybody. My mom was somebody who always helped somebody and my dad kind of preached to us like, ‘Plan B is football. Plan A is what you need to focus on. That’s what you got to school for, that’s what you get the good grades for.’ Now it’s starting to become a real thing, and that’s why I was smiling so hard because It’s an exciting thing. It’s bittersweet, yes, but it’s an exciting moment to embark on a journey that I always wanted to be in, and that’s motivating people , helping people. Having people have that positive mindset; that mentality to be better than what you think you really are because you have so many people who believe in you, love you and sometimes you got to tap into that side to see more for yourself and that’s what I was able to do.”
Griffin starting at UCF, being drafted into the NFL and playing three full seasons with a playoff contender might have been viewed as incredible achievements for any player, much less a one-handed one.