Shaquem Griffin Quotes

“I’m always gonna be smiling. I’m always gonna be in a good mood.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I don’t define myself by my successes. I define myself by adversity and how I’ve persevered.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“It doesn’t feel like anything I have is a disability because I can do anything I put my mind to.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Nobody was ever going to tell me that I didn’t belong on a football field. And nobody was ever going to tell me that I couldn’t be great.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“It’s nothing, really, for me to be able to say it’s overwhelming or anything. It’s just – you do the interviews, you interact with everybody, and you make sure that, at the end of the day, you focus on why you’re here, and that’s to play football and make sure I can contribute as a teammate.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“There is no limit to what I can do.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I give all thanks to God. But I’m just here to play football.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Please don’t tell me what I can’t do.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“People don’t wanna take a chance. And I just feel like that’s what it was, it’s like that in every single level I’ve been in, from little league to high school and college.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I remember there was a time when I didn’t get any attention at all. There was a time when I didn’t have anybody asking what was going on and what I had to overcome, so it feels good.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“You’re not disabled unless you say ‘I’m disabled.’”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I think me having one hand made me work even harder than many other people.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I get underestimated every single day.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Don’t matter if I am playing on special teams, don’t matter if I am playing linebacker: I want to be the best at what I am doing.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Everybody in this world deserves to show what they can do without anybody telling them they can’t.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“The more I show what I’m going through, the more I can give answers, the more I can help those on the outside looking in.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“When I was at UCF, I played a lot of different positions, so I don’t feel uncomfortable moving around.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“It doesn’t matter where I play at – as long as I get an opportunity to help better my team in any aspect, I’ll play anything.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I’m going to keep proving people wrong because I have a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of doubters.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“There were so many stories and so many instances where I had guys telling me that this game was for two-handed players and not for one-handed players, and I’ll go out here and get myself hurt.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“My expectations for myself were really high.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I’m gonna be called Shaquem Griffin the football player, not Shaquem Griffin the one-hand wonder.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“If you got a disability or a handicap, that means you’re limited to certain things. And I don’t feel like I’m limited to nothing. I can do anything anybody else can do.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I think I’ve been doing pretty well with showing people what I really can do.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Usually, I don’t just talk and not back it up.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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?’”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I always tell everybody, if I can inspire one, they can inspire one more, and I can inspire a thousand later.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“If you have two hands or 30 hands, show me what you can do, and we’ll go from there.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I took a couple footballs to the face before I learned to catch.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I’ve played football one-handed. I’ve played football with no hands.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Me holding a grudge is not going to help me. It’s not going to make me any better.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I’m not just a feel-good story.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“As long as I’m going fast and making plays, they’re going to forget how many hands I have.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I want to be able to show NFL teams, Whatever you need help at, I can play it.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Even without football, football doesn’t define Shaquem Griffin. It’s who he can help that defines him.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.’”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I looked into the rule book, and I never seen a rule of only two-handed players can play football.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I never let one hand stop me from doing what I needed to do to get down field and win games.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I never was a person who let people who have their ideas and their expectations of me dictate who I became.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I can’t let anybody tell me what I’m going to be.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“When you can get o-linemen guessing about what you’re going to do, that means you’re already winning before you start.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“At some point, your physical ability, it can’t be the only thing you rely on.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“You’ll never see me coming around the corner not smiling… I mean, I enjoy every moment.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I got to prove myself every single day. I’m not going to get comfortable where I’m at.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“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.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I do what I do. I live my life the way I’ve been living it.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I don’t feel like I’m overwhelmed from meeting people and telling my story over and over again.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“A lot of people say, ‘Do you feel a lot of pressure?’ There’s not that much pressure, to be honest.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“Anywhere I go – if it’s in the country, out of the country – someone is going to know you.”

― Shaquem Griffin

“I couldn’t ask for anything in the world than to be with my brother.”

― Shaquem Griffin