Shaquem Griffin, who played with twin brother Shaquill during his time with UCF, announced he is retiring from the NFL after 4 seasons.
Griffin, who had his left hand amputated at the age of 4 played for the Knights from 2013-2017 where he helped lead UCF to a “National Championship” win over the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl during his final season with the team.
Griffin was then drafted in the fifth round by the Seattle Seahawks in 2018 and played with the team through the 2020 season and returned to the sunshine state where he competed on the practice squad team for the Miami Dolphins in 2021.
Griffin made the announcement Wednesday in a Players’ Tribune article that he said he believes that is the right time to walk away from the game of football professionally.
“The time has come for me to retire from professional football,” Griffin said. “It’s time for me to execute my Plan A.”
Griffin said he believes “Plan A” is using his education he received at UCF to “do something that would make a positive impact in the world.” Griffin said he is interested in helping serve and support underprivileged communities throughout the country.
Griffin makes this decision after missing the opportunity to play with his brother Shaquill who plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Shaquill was selected in 2017 by Seattle and both brothers played together with the Seahawks until 2020.
“All this traveling around, working out for teams, trying to catch on somewhere, trying to hang on — it wasn’t what I wanted,” Griffin said. “Football had already given me so much, and the only thing I still really wanted from the game was to play with my brother again. So I told my agent, Buddy Baker, thank you for grinding and bringing me these opportunities. But unless it’s Jacksonville, I’m good.”
During his time at UCF he accumulated 17 sacks, 30 tackles for a loss and was named the 2018 Peach Bowl Defensive MVP.
