Once during that season, when the team was out of town for an away game, Griffin stayed behind and tried to watch his brother play on his laptop, but the internet was down. He became disheartened and broke down in tears. He reached out to his support system for help and called his mom. “My mom has seven sisters, so she immediately called them all, along with my grandmama, and they started what we call a prayer line. I learned faith through my family, and right then and there, on that phone call, they all prayed for me and reminded me of all the accomplishments I have already achieved. When I got off that phone, I was recentered. It was a lesson for me that I am not alone,” he recollected.
Griffin’s optimism was infectious as he advised his audience of cadets, school-aged children and their parents, and other community members, “Everyone faces adversity and difficulties throughout life. It may be an injury, it may be heartbreak, it may be bad grades, but do not allow those setbacks to stop you from following your dream. It takes grit, hard work, and determination to reach our goals. Rely on your support system. Mine is my family, but you have one, too. Use them. No one can accomplish things on their own.”
Going into his third year of college, Griffin thought it would be his best year yet, but he was wrong. “The coach called me into his office and told me they were sending me home. I accepted that, thinking he meant my dorm room and just for the day. The following day, I was back working out in the weight room. The coach called me back to his office and asked me why I was still on campus. He told me if I didn’t leave campus immediately, they would call the police. Heartbroken, I called my mom, and she picked me up. Being sent home tested my faith.” Griffin learned later that the coach separated the twins to see if Shaquill could succeed without his brother on campus.
At home, Griffin kept busy working two jobs: Cleaning offices for his older brother’s janitorial business and towing cars for his father’s towing company. “I appreciated my support system, and Shaquill called me every day to see how I was doing and to encourage me to keep working out and to stay in shape. My brother believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself,” Griffin confessed. He hit a low point when he had to completely submerge himself into a puddle in order to hook up a car to be towed. When he successfully delivered the car to its owner, he was offered a five-dollar tip, but before the bill was handed over to him, the man tore it in two with the words, “This is a lesson; if you want something bad enough, you gotta go get it.” Griffin still has that bill as a reminder of the life lesson.
Soon after that incident, Griffin received a call from the coach at UCF inviting him back, but learned that offer came at his brother’s sacrifice. When Shaquill heard the coach wanted Griffin to play junior college football, he once again honored the pact the twins had made many years earlier and informed the coach that if Griffin was forced to play junior college, then he would, too. Since the coach wanted and needed Shaquill where he was, he agreed to let Griffin play on the team, as well. “I had forgotten that everything happens in God’s time, not my time,” said Griffin. The twins were thrilled to be back together. In Griffin’s final season, the UCF Knights went on to be undefeated, with Griffin being named the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Defensive MVP. The twins then went on to play together for the same NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks.
Griffin closed his speech by encouraging his listeners to never give up on their goals and dreams and never give in to self-doubt. “Have faith, believe in yourself. You have people who love you, reach out to them for help, and use them as a sharpening tool. The Lord works in mysterious ways and with each failure, there is a lesson to learn, and with each lesson, good things follow.”
Following the talk, Griffin autographed copies of the book he and Shaquill wrote called Inseparable—How Family and Sacrifice Forged a Path to the NFL.