Shaquem Griffin is at the top of his game. Last year, this 23-year-old linebacker led his college football team to an undefeated season. He then went on to stun observers with his strength, speed, and charisma at a National Football League (NFL) recruiting event. Griffin’s skill on the field isn’t the only thing that makes him a standout athlete. He also recently became the first one-handed player ever drafted by an NFL team.
Griffin was born with a left hand that hadn’t fully developed. The condition was extremely painful, and his parents decided to have doctors amputate, or remove, his hand when he was just 4 years old. Afterward, Griffin and his family decided they’d never let his physical difference hold him back. When he fell in love with football as a child, some people didn’t think he should play the sport. But that wouldn’t stop Griffin. “Nobody was ever going to tell me that I didn’t belong on a football field,” he wrote in a recently published essay in The Players’ Tribune.
Today, Griffin is gearing up to start his first season with the Seattle Seahawks. With his pro career about to begin, Science World takes a look at how he got to where he is today.