Reloaded: Seahawks’ Shaquill Griffin opted to play with disabled brother rather than accept Power 5 scholarships

Note: This article was originally posted April 28, 2017, when the Seahawks drafted Shaquill Griffin. With the addition of his brother Shaquem, let’s revisit when we first learned of the bond between the charming duo.

This one kind of writes itself. When college recruiters came calling for Shaquill Griffin, a three-star high school recruit out of St. Petersburg, Florida, he refused offers from major Division-1 programs like the University of Florida and Miami while insisting that he and his brother, identical twin Shaquem whose hand was amputated as a young child, were an indivisible pair.

Both Griffins ended up at Central Florida, where Shaquem had to spend three seasons as a scout-teamer before finally qualifying for the varsity squad a senior to play with his brother Shaquill. At last the duo played together in college in 2016, but Shaquill will now move on his own into the NFL thanks to the Seattle Seahawks selecting him in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft Friday.

Shaquem, who will be a redshirt senior in 2017, also gets to strike out on his own next year at UCF. “He's gonna miss me a lot,” Shaquill told the Orlando Sentinel. “He's gonna call me every day, I know he is. He's gonna call me every day.”

Shaquill seems like exactly the kind of character the Seahawks aim to select with their mid-round picks, and he fills a need in the defensive backfield most expected Seattle to pick in the early rounds of the draft. With a serious knee injury to DeShawn Shead, Griffin immediately steps into the competition to start at outside cornerback. Griffin, who already has plans to invest in real estate and fund the children’s organization he already initiated, is grateful just for the chance to earn a contract in the professional leagues and keep standing by his brother Shaquem.