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For Lakewood’s Shaquill Griffin, playing in first Pro Bowl is a family reunion

Third-year Seahawks cornerback is being rewarded for his standout season, and is excited to share it with his family. “We all made the Pro Bowl.”
 
NFC cornerback Shaquill Griffin of the Seattle Seahawks gives a thumbs up during Pro Bowl NFL football practice, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
NFC cornerback Shaquill Griffin of the Seattle Seahawks gives a thumbs up during Pro Bowl NFL football practice, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano) [ STEVE LUCIANO | AP ]
Published Jan. 24, 2020|Updated Jan. 25, 2020

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Shaquill Griffin is on the move.

The St. Petersburg native and former Lakewood High standout is signing as many autographs as he can. He still has interviews to give and hands to shake. And he’s loving every minute of his first Pro Bowl.

For Griffin, a cornerback who just completed his third NFL season with the Seattle Seahawks, this week’s Pro Bowl festivities in the Orlando area serve as a homecoming. He starred collegiately down the street at UCF. And the proximity allows his family to be by his side.

“I have so much love for my family and they have so much love for me,” said Shaquill Griffin, who will play for the NFC in the 3 p.m. Pro Bowl Sunday at Camping World Stadium. “To be able to share it, just to say I’m in this Pro Bowl and they can say it as well, I share this moment with them. We all made the Pro Bowl and that’s how we take it.”

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On Wednesday, Shaquill and his twin brother Shaquem shared the spotlight, the latest chapter in the siblings’ storybook tale that’s brought them on identical football paths through UCF and to the NFL with the Seahawks, even after Shaquem overcame having his left hand amputated when he was 4 due to amniotic band syndrome.

Shaquem joked about getting around wearing his brother's credential and during a media scrum, he interjected with his own questions.

“How does it feel to be Shaquem Griffin’s brother?" he asked with a smile.

On this day, Shaquill’s parents, Terry and Tangie, are directing traffic, pointing Shaquill toward the truest of the autograph seekers, the ones waving the Seahawks’ 12th man flags and donning UCF gear. As he approaches one group of fans, he introduced his 7-year-old nephew, Duke, as his bodyguard.

“It hasn’t set in,” said Terry Griffin, who owns a towing company in St. Petersburg. “I guess I’m still kind of waiting. I’ve been watching them every single day since they were my grandson’s age, since they were seven years old. It was always, you put in the hard work and you’ll see what the hard work will bring you. I’m still being that overprotective father, watching the crowd and when they stray off, tell them, ‘Hey hey, you’re not supposed to do that.’ ”

And even here, Shaquem isn’t far away. When one fan asks where his brother is, Shaquill calls for his phone and brings him in on FaceTime.

As Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin signs autographs for fans following Thursday's Pro Bowl practice, he brings his twin brother Shaquem in on a FaceTime call. [Eduardo A. Encina | Times] [ EDUARDO A. ENCINA | Tampa Bay Times ]

“Having the Griffin brothers on our team is pretty amazing,” said Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who is making his seventh Pro Bowl appearance in eight seasons. “Those guys are so dedicated to the game, they work so hard."

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This isn’t the first time Shaquill’s been to the Pro Bowl. Two years ago, following his rookie season, then-Seahawks safety Earl Thomas brought Griffin with him to experience the atmosphere.

“I knew that if anybody in that (Seahawks draft) class was going to make it, it was going to be him,” said Thomas, now with the Baltimore Ravens. “I was going to get ahead of it, bring him out here, give him some motivation knowing that he was going to get here. He’s a great player. I know it motivated him. He loves the game so much, him and his brother. They eat, sleep and breathe football. They’re athletes. I just wanted to give him some motivation, something to grab onto. ... Everybody wants to be a part of this, especially when you first come into the league.”

Shaquill said Thomas’ invitation — and the confidence the act showed in him — was invaluable.

“Man, it meant the world to me, just to have someone who believed in me more than I did at that moment,” he said. “To have a guy who believes in you from the time you step on the field as a rookie is just awesome. I appreciate him so much for believing in me. After he said that, it made me have more faith in myself to be able to make it to the spot I am today.”

Seattle Seahawks' Shaquill Griffin and Shaquem Griffin celebrate a sack during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer) [ MIKE ROEMER | AP ]

Each Griffin brother is setting his own NFL path. Shaquill’s 13 pass breakups tied for second most in the league.

"I knew it was a matter of time," Thomas said. "He was a great player. People in our league still don't know about him. He's really a lockdown corner and I knew it wasn't going to be long."

Shaquem saw the most defensive snaps of his career in the second half of this season, utilized in an edge rusher role similar to what he did in college, and capped his season with his first career sack in the Seahawks’ NFC division-round playoff game against Green Bay.

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Still, the brothers weren’t expecting to be here this week. On Sunday, they were watching the NFC Championship Game with some teammates in Arizona when Shaquill received a call telling him he was being added to the NFC squad.

“I’m strictly in offseason mode and I get this call and I’m like, ‘What?’ ” Shaquill said. “I wasn’t going to make a huge scene, I was going to tell the guys and see how they would react. So I told them during the commercial break and they all went crazy. My brother took off running, just yelling around the house. When I got that call, it felt like I was getting drafted again. It was crazy.

And now, everybody around him can enjoy it.

“To see this day, it’s amazing, because I had so many people who believed in me. I just had to believe in myself.”

Contact Eduardo A. Encina at eencina@tampabay.com. Follow @EddieInTheYard.