Shaquem Griffin, first NFL player with one hand to be drafted in modern era, announces retirement

Shaquem Griffin, the former Seattle Seahawk who was one of University of Central Florida's most popular players in history, announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday.

"Football was always Plan B," he wrote in a story for The Players' Tribune. "Plan A was to go to college, get an education and do something that would make a positive impact in the world."

He continued: "The time has come for me to retire from professional football. It’s time for me to execute my Plan A."

Griffin, who turned 27 last month, became the first one-handed player drafted in the league's modern era when the Seahawks selected him in the fifth round in 2018.

He had his left hand amputated when he was 4 years old due to amniotic band sequence, a condition during pregnancy in which strands of the amniotic sac separate and entangle digits, limbs, or other parts of the fetus.

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When the Seahawks picked Griffin, he was reunited with twin brother Shaquill, whom the team selected in Round 3 the year before.

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Shaquem, a 6-foot, 227-pound outside linebacker, saw action in 46 NFL games. He totaled 25 tackles (17 solo), one sack, one pass breakup, one tackle for loss and six QB hits.

He last suited up for the Seahawks in the Week 17 finale of the 2020 regular season, playing 12 snaps — 11 on special teams — in a 26-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Shaquem joined the Miami Dolphins in July 2021 but failed to crack the 53-man roster, spending some time on the practice squad before his release.

Griffin "worked out for the Cardinals, the Titans and the Jets, and then I got calls from Buffalo, Dallas and Atlanta," he wrote in The Players' Tribune. But he said he realized something after his Jets workout.

"All this traveling around, working out for teams, trying to catch on somewhere, trying to hang on — it wasn’t what I wanted," Griffin wrote. "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."

Shaquill landed a three-year, $40 million contract from the Jaguars in free agency last year.

"Honestly, it’s still a little surreal. After everything I’ve been through in my life — all the hard work, all the doubters — it’s almost unthinkable that I’m hangin’ it up and moving on from the game of football," Griffin wrote. "I’m gonna go build something new so I can do what Dad always told us to do: leave the world a better place than when we found it. 

At UCF, Shaquem earned "icon" status. He was the American Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and a two-time first-team all-conference pick.

Griffin thanked former UCF head coach Scott Frost, who now holds the same position at Nebraska, for giving him a chance at UCF in his story.

In February, during Super Bowl week festivities, Griffin said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell invited him to join the NFL Legends Community, a program through which retired players help mentor current and former players on everything from the transition into and out of the game to how to navigate mental health issues.

"And then the moment I knew that I had to say yes was when I was sitting with the commissioner and a few other guys, and we were just talking about football, rule changes — normal stuff. Then, the conversation shifted," Griffin said.

"We started talking about what’s happening on the streets in Chicago and how those communities are suffering. Guys started throwing out ideas on how we could help. How we could maybe improve people’s lives and make a real positive impact.

"And I was thinking, These are the kinds of conversations I want to be a part of."