MOBILE, Ala. — Shaquem Griffin was four years old when his left hand was amputated, the result of pain he was experiencing from a rare birth defect known as Amniotic Band Syndrome. Just three years later he was told for the first time that being one-handed precluded him from playing the sport he loved.
“When I was in little league, I remember the coach telling me [football] is for two-handed players,” the Central Florida linebacker said at the Senior Bowl, where he arrived as one of the nation’s most productive defenders and the game’s most inspirational story.
“Hearing things like that, I had to take it upon myself —no matter if I had one hand, two hands or 30 hands — to prove I can play football.