AAC Football

The University of Connecticut and the family of Eli Thomas announced Monday the 22-year-old junior linebacker suffered a stroke last Wednesday.

"Thank you all for your love and well wishes for Eli," his mother, Mary Beth Turner, said in a statement, per Alex Putterman of the Hartford Courant. "To say we are stunned by this turn of events is an understatement! A strong, healthy, 22-year old man having a stroke is not anything we anticipated. However, Eli will fight back as he has with every challenge that has come his way with 'Eli Style.'"

Thomas was serving as a starting linebacker and defensive end for the Huskies, making a triumphant comeback to the field after a third ACL tear cost him the entire 2017 campaign. Prior to UConn, he spent three years at Lackawanna College, though his first two ACL tears meant he didn't see much playing time before his transfer.

This year, he notched 11 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in the team's first four games before a neck injury against Syracuse on Sept. 22 sidelined him for UConn's next two games. 

"I've never had a 'poor me,' 'why me?' attitude," Thomas said in August when discussing his history of injuries, per Putterman. "I don't really complain about it. You can't control it anyway, it's already happened. You've just got to work your way out of it."

Thomas will need that perspective again as he recovers from his unexpected stroke.

"Every day, you just never know what can happen," UConn head coach Randy Edsall said. "Things like this are just very unfortunate. It's one of those things where [you take it] one day at a time and do the very best you can every day because you just never know what can happen."  

Central Florida linebacker Demetreius Mayes Jr. was arrested by school police on Tuesday. 

Per arrest records (via ESPN.com's Kyle Bonagura), Mayes was charged with sexual battery to a physically helpless person stemming from a "suspicious incident" at a UCF housing complex on Saturday. 

"From what we know so far on this matter I'm upset and disappointed," UCF head coach Josh Heupel said in a statement. "This has no place in our program. We are focused on ensuring that we provide compassion and support for everyone outside our program that has been affected by this."

Heupel also announced Mayes has been suspended from all football-related activities. 

The woman told detectives on Monday that she remembered "arriving at the housing complex and going upstairs but did not recall what happened until she woke up naked as Mayes sexually penetrated her."

She also said Mayes tried to block the door after she stood up before two other men inside the room walked her to the lobby in the building. 

Per the arrest affidavit, Mayes told detectives the sex was consensual and he stopped after she said, "I can't do this."

Mayes is a true freshman at Central Florida.

 

Turnover props are all the rage in college football, but none are more regal than the ones displayed by SMU Saturday.

As seen in the following photo from Brad Galli of WXYZ Detroit, the Mustangs busted out a turnover crown and goblet:

SMU has a turnover crown and goblet.

They’re on display after Shea Patterson’s INT ended Michigan’s drive. pic.twitter.com/3Rdr8UI04j

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) September 15, 2018

Junior safety Mikial Onu was honored with the crown and goblet after he intercepted Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson in the first quarter.

SMU lost its first two games of the season, but it finally had some occasion to celebrate early in a close contest against the Wolverines.

Last season, the Miami Hurricanes introduced the turnover chain, which prompted several schools to create their own rewards for turnovers this season.

After giving up a total of 88 points in its first two games of the 2018 campaign, it is clear that SMU's defense must improve significantly in order to make the crown and goblet a Saturday staple moving forward. 

Florida lost to Kentucky for the first time in 32 years.

Florida State did all it could to fend off and finally beat FCS tomato can Samford.

Miami beat FCS cupcake Savannah State but hasn't beaten an FBS team since before Thanksgiving 2017.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the state of college football in the state of Florida. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

"We've got to execute better," says FSU coach Willie Taggart.

"We have to find a way to get better," says Florida coach Dan Mullen.

Or maybe it's time to start looking elsewhere, toward the only saving grace of football in the Sunshine State: UCF.

That's right, those plucky Knights who have the nation's longest winning streak (15) and had the audacity last year to claim a national title because, well, why the hell not? Why not spend the entire offseason overloading social media with the idea that The People's Champion resides in Orlando, not Tuscaloosa.

The Knights beat Auburn, which beat College Football Playoff national champion Alabama, so, ipso facto, UCF proudly and defiantly raised a championship banner (just play along and ignore the degree of difficulty in the American Athletic Conference).

Before everyone gets sideways, let's understand the UCF advertising and marketing genius for what it is: a spot at the Power Five big boy table.

The next problem: The odds of that happening are about as good as the odds of keeping Scott Frost in Orlando.

One Big 12 source told me this summer that UCF has "no shot" at conference membership, that the idea of such a move "isn't even on the table."

So where does The People's Champion go? One of two options:

A) Continue building palatial facilities and winning games, and force itself upon the public narrative (see: claiming the 2017 national championship). If the Knights back up 2017 with another unbeaten season in 2018 and somehow find a spot in the College Football Playoff, maybe the Big 12 starts sniffing around.

B) Hope against hope that Texas and Oklahoma magnanimously agree to add another mouth to feed from the Big 12 trough out of the goodness of their hearts.

"There's no advantage of adding another team," the Big 12 source told me. "There's no value in it. The first question in (expansion) talks is: What value does it bring?"

To recap: UCF has no monetary value to the Big 12, and the Big 12 doesn't need the lure of UCF to recruit the state of Florida.

This leaves UCF with a take-it-or-leave-it third option: Be the best in the state of Florida.

So while the Big Three wallow in their unmistakable misery, UCF continues to thump its chest—a laughable thought all of three years ago when the Knights didn't win a game against that same godawful schedule.

While the UCF train keeps rolling down the track, Florida's Big Three keep stumbling over themselves. Hiring coaches, firing coaches, letting coaches leave for other jobs—all of which plays out on the field.

Kentucky, a basketball school, shoved the ball down the collective throats at Florida for more than 300 yards rushing.

Samford gashed FSU for 525 yards and, were it not for five turnovers, would've beaten the Noles.

Miami has lost its last four games against FBS teams by a combined 129-58.

"We're telling a story that needs to be told," says UCF athletic director Danny White.

The best way to do it is winning games—especially games that matter. To that end, UCF has future home-and-home series with Louisville and Georgia Tech, and it's working to upgrade its non-conference schedule even though the Big Three in Florida want no part of the Knights.

UCF has also added a home-and-home series with Stanford. No, FSU, not Samford. 

"I've always said there's no argument against winning," said new UCF coach Josh Heupel.

More than 30 years ago, Miami won its first national championship in 1983 with a gutsy freshman quarterback (Bernie Kosar) leading a program that five years earlier nearly disbanded.

Since that 1983 championship season, Miami, Florida or Florida State has finished in the top five of the AP Top 25 poll in 26 of those 35 seasons.

Now look at the Big Three. All dressed up with nothing to show for it.

Maybe it's time to start looking somewhere else. 

Editor's Note: College football is BACK. Get to know the three SURE-FIRE superstars who are guaranteed to dominate this season.

Part 1 (Tuesday): Nick Bosa

Part 2 (Wednesday): AJ Dillon

Part 3 (Thursday): Ed Oliver

           

HOUSTON — Ed Oliver shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be sitting at a sticky picnic table outside Burns Original BBQ in late June, down the street from where he used to ride horses as a child, staring down a heaping plate of ribs, chicken, green beans and rice as industrial fans do their best to cool the humid air.

And sure, he probably shouldn't have walked next door to order a bag of fries from Burns Burger Shack while he waited. And he could have left his dog at home when he took off for lunch. But instead, the windows of his brown Ford F-150 are cracked, the air conditioning is on full throttle, and the Great Dane is waiting comfortably in the passenger seat as the engine rumbles 30 feet away.

As was the case long before he became one of the most dominant forces in college football—a defensive tackle one NFL scout called "Aaron Donald with prototype size"—Oliver does things his way.

That's precisely how the nation's No. 6 prospect in the 2016 recruiting class wound up here. Not at LSU or Texas or Alabama but the University of Houston.

In deciding to play for his home city and with his brother, Marcus, who started all 12 games as a senior on the offensive line last season, Oliver did something almost no elite high school football player ever does. He turned down every sales pitch and major program in college football.

Which leads us back to this sticky picnic table. Oliver should not be here. Based on ability alone, he should be long gone, being paid millions of dollars to torment quarterbacks as a professional.

Though multiple NFL scouts felt he would've been a top-five pick in the 2018 draft, Oliver didn't have that option. NFL rules stipulate he return to the Cougars for his third season before becoming draft-eligible.

As for the 2019 draft, Oliver already has declared his intent to enter it.

"I wasn't about to get asked that question a million times all year," he says between bites. "I'm here to play football. I don't need a million interviews every other day. I ain't here for that."

That decision, however, leads to another question. As a likely top selection, should Oliver risk it? Should he suit up for a team that doesn't figure to compete for the national championship?

"That's crazy talk," he says, cutting the question short. "I love the game too much. I can't sit there and watch my guys go to war while I'm chillin' on the bench. When we're grinding the whole offseason together, I'm gonna sit on the bench?

"Nah. That's not how this is going to go."

---

From behind his desk inside his office overlooking the weight room, Rod Grace is feverishly scrolling through his iPad.

The device houses the data on every lift and personal best Oliver has posted over the past three years. And though Houston's director of sports performance knows most of the numbers by heart, it doesn't make the exercise any less enjoyable.

"I hear coaches talk about the four-year rule: It takes four years to master the weight room," Grace says. "But the special guys have a four-week rule, and that's what Ed is. You introduce something one week, and by the fourth week, he's damn good at it."

Oliver arrived capable of squatting more than 500 pounds. Eight weeks later, before he had played a snap, he was squatting more than 600.

These days, Oliver squats more than 650 pounds and power-cleans 385, figures considered elite for NFL players. His vertical leap is 36 inches, his broad jump 10'1". Both would have placed him among the top three defensive linemen at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.

But those extraordinary marks are eclipsed in Grace's mind by the incredible feats of athleticism he has witnessed from Oliver.

Like the time he landed a 48-inch box jump on only one leg—prompting the two to share a laugh amid disbelief. Or earlier this year when Oliver demanded one rep against skill-position players in an agility drill after he had demolished his fellow linemen.

"He beat every single one—our wideouts; you name 'em," Grace says.

Oliver has chased down Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson, tormenting them with two sacks apiece. He won the Outland Trophy—given to the best interior lineman in college football—despite playing in the American Athletic, a non-Power Five conference.

Oliver is listed at 6'3" and 292 pounds but has said he plays at least 10 pounds lighter. In his first two seasons, he accumulated 39.5 tackles for loss in only 25 games—more than all but one player, former South Florida defensive end George Selvie, who had 46.5 in 26 games in 2006-07.

"The first thing you notice is the explosion," an NFL scout tells Bleacher Report. "He's so powerful at the snap because that explosion is so quick, so overwhelming. And he's one of those rare interior guys that are just as dominant in the run game as they are getting after the quarterback.

"He's a top-five guy stepping on the field."

---

There wasn't a news conference. In fact, the school had to scramble to put out a release because it didn't have anything crafted in advance.

When Oliver on March 5 said his junior year would be his last, it was met with surprise. Not the decision but the timing. While most juniors wait until the end of their seasons to declare their intent to enter the NFL draft, Oliver didn't see the point.

Since his arrival, Oliver had made clear college was "a three-year business trip," he says. But few within the program knew he would say so on the team's first day of spring practice.

"My momma didn't even know," says Oliver, who broke the news in response to a question. "I just spoke from the heart."

Since then, Oliver and his family have prepared for the next step. Like arranging an insurance policy to protect him financially against serious injury. Or the discussion he had with his mother regarding completing his degree, a promise Oliver says he will fulfill in time.

Cougars head coach Major Applewhite was not surprised by the timing of Oliver's announcement.

"I think he was honestly thinking: 'To hell with this. I'm going pro,'" he says. "'I chased Lamar Jackson all over the damn field. Who are we kidding?' He's very matter of fact like that.

"Ed's not going to break your rules, but he's not going to play by your rules."

Still, Oliver doesn't view himself as a trendsetter. Nor does he hope or care if more players follow his lead.

"When you declare, just be genuine about it, man," Oliver says. "Get it out the way, and go ahead, play your season. I didn't do it for attention. I don't need the attention. I wanted you all to leave me alone."

---

That's not to say Oliver hasn't thought about what might have been. As he heard the names of defensive player after defensive player called during the 2018 NFL draft—players Oliver felt he was more skilled than and worked harder than—he couldn't help himself.

"Part of me wishes that things were different," he says. "I think some players should be let into the league strictly off enough coaches who say, 'Yeah, I would draft him the first round.'"

South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney was in a similar position after his sophomore season. A former No. 1 recruit, he became the No. 1 NFL prospect right around the time he annihilated Vincent Smith in the Michigan backfield in the 2013 Outback Bowl.

Though the two play different positions—Clowney end and Oliver tackle—they finished their sophomore years having clearly outgrown their sport.

"It was pretty much understood that he would be here three years and go," former Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier says of Clowney. "He was in his own category."

Before his junior year, many questioned whether Clowney should play at all. Having watched South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore suffer back-to-back season-ending knee injuries during his sophomore and junior seasons—the second of which derailed his NFL career—Spurrier knew what was at stake.

The question, Spurrier says, was this: "You have a chance to financially secure yourself and your family. Is it really worth it to play that third year? We certainly appreciate what Jadeveon did. He could have sat out and probably still been the No. 1 pick."

Since Clowney played his junior year through injuries that limited his snaps, draft prospects have begun to take their NFL futures into their own hands. Running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey, top-10 picks in the 2017 draft, sat out bowl games after dealing with nagging injuries.

A handful of others last season made the same choice, protecting themselves from potential injuries. At a time when players are developing a voice on this issue, there is no better candidate to push the conversation forward than Oliver.

"Everybody has said it to me," Oliver says. "They say, 'You can sit out this year, and you're still going to go top five.' But that's wrong. Not playing for a school that's done everything for you is wrong. You're going to be remembered as the guy who worked out with the team then sat out? The guy who didn't go 100 because of your future?"

Oliver says he plans to play in Houston's bowl game, if the team makes one and he's remotely healthy.

Rather than avoid injury by avoiding snaps, he has adopted a different mindset heading into the season.

Play hard enough that you won't get hit.

---

His coaches know they will most likely never have a player of this caliber again, and they are approaching this season with that in mind.

They view Oliver as not just the best college football player in America but a rare talent who can single-handedly influence the outcome of games from a position where that can be difficult.

Applewhite has talked to Oliver about the way LeBron James and Stephen Curry impact those around them.

"How far is he going to bring this team? I think that will say a lot about him," Applewhite says. "Can he make all the plays? No. Can LeBron make all the plays? No. But how far can he bring us?"

A.J. Blum, Houston's defensive line coach, also coached Oliver at Westfield High School. He can feel the effect Oliver is having away from the field—where he is trying to recruit the next great defensive lineman to join the Cougars.

"There are so many guys in the city that will say: 'I want to be the next Ed. I want to take the same path Ed Oliver took,'" Blum says. "I think that's really the legacy he's going to leave here."

---

With his tray of barbecue empty and his bag of fries dwindling, Oliver wants to make one thing clear: His story cannot be about his draft status and signing bonus and the professional leap he will take starting near the end of the year. His story, at least for now, should be about the next four months.

"I gotta be remembered for something," says Oliver, whose high school team lost in the state quarterfinals in 2013 and state semifinals in 2014. "This is my city. I have zero rings since I started playing football. We gotta win a conference and a bowl game. I'd be damned if I leave another level of football without getting a ring."

To achieve that goal, Oliver has adopted a new routine this offseason. For someone whose preparation has always been intense, he has finally allowed himself to slow down.

More treatment. More stretching. More focus on his body and staying healthy.

"It's going to be a long season," he says. "I'm going to be there for every game."

As he gets up from the table, Oliver says hello to someone he recognizes. A year from now, things will be different. In all likelihood, he'll be a stranger in a new city for the first time.

But for at least a few more months, Oliver will play for the people in his hometown, not for the money or the fame, which he says he could gladly do without.

As he walks past the industrial fans and into the parking lot, his engine is still running.

Oliver eases into his truck and pets his dog, whose name carries extra-special significance. No matter what happens next year—wherever Oliver lands next—Houston will be by his side.

The South Florida Bulls reportedly found a potential replacement at quarterback for the departed Quinton Flowers.

According to JP Peterson of 620 WDAE in Tampa Bay, Florida, former Alabama signal-caller Blake Barnett will transfer from Arizona State to South Florida. Peterson noted Barnett has two years of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately.

Matt Zenitz of AL.com noted Barnett left Alabama in 2016 for Arizona State but left the Sun Devils in April after serving as their backup.    

Barnett attempted just 19 passes in 2016 with the Crimson Tide and five passes last season for the Sun Devils and has yet to establish himself as a reliable playmaker at the collegiate level. He transferred from Alabama after Jalen Hurts took over the starting job and left Arizona State as someone who was battling for a backup position behind Manny Wilkins.

While he hasn't lived up to the billing, Barnett was once a highly regarded recruit who committed to Notre Dame before decommitting and joining the Crimson Tide.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, he was a 5-star prospect and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the 2015 class.

If he delivers on the talent that warranted his ranking, this will be a major pickup for the Bulls after Flowers finished his collegiate career with 2,911 passing yards, 1,078 rushing yards and 36 total touchdowns in 2017.

UCF football will continue to call itself the 2017 national champions, even unveiling a new banner Saturday to commemorate the undefeated season:

Perfection. pic.twitter.com/7EFO3lyeVQ

— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) April 21, 2018

An excited fanbase at Spectrum Stadium cheered along before the start of the 2018 spring game.

The players were also awarded championship rings:

The 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 2017 undefeated national championship ring.#ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/RtLEqbgoKR

— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) April 22, 2018

The Knights officially finished sixth in the final Associated Press poll last season, and they weren't invited to compete in the College Football Playoff, but they completed the year with a 13-0 record, making them the only undefeated team in the sport.

As Andrea Adelson of ESPN.com noted, UCF athletic director Danny White had promised both banners and parades after considering the squad national champions of the sport. The team has already celebrated in a parade at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Although Alabama will go down in the record books as the official national champions of the 2017 season, UCF is doing fine in its own world.

Former University of Connecticut quarterback Johnny McEntee was reportedly removed from his role as a personal aide to United States President Donald Trump on Monday.

Michael C. Bender of the Wall Street Journal broke the news Tuesday. CNN's Kaitlan Collins noted the staff change came with McEntee under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for alleged "serious financial crimes."

The 27-year-old California native is set to remain in Trump's circle, however, with the president's 2020 re-election operation confirming his new job as senior adviser, per Matthew Nussbaum of Politico.

"John McEntee, who was a personal aide to President Trump in the 2016 campaign and the White House, will also re-join the Trump campaign as a senior adviser for campaign operations," it said in a statement.

McEntee was the starting quarterback at UConn as a junior during the 2011 season. He completed 51.3 percent of his passes for 2,110 yards with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions across 12 appearances. He was supplanted atop the depth chart by Chandler Whitmer in 2012.

McEntee also gained notoriety for a trick-shot video posted on YouTube in February 2011 that has received more than 7.2 million views.

Houston Cougars defensive tackle Ed Oliver isn't wasting any time in preparation for the next step in his football career. Oliver announced Monday he intends on entering the 2019 NFL draft.

"This was a dream of mine coming in," Oliver said in a statement on the Cougars' official website. "I knew I was going on a business trip, and whether my business trip was three years or four years it just depended on how early I got on the field and how effective I was."

Through his first two seasons at Houston, Oliver has 139 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 39.5 tackles for loss. As a sophomore in 2017, he was a consensus first-team All-American and the Outland Trophy winner.

Houston head coach Major Applewhite told ESPN.com's Sam Khan Jr. last month Oliver should at least warrant a mention in the 2018 Heisman Trophy discussion.

"We have to see what he does on the field [this season]," Applewhite said. "I think he deserves to be in the conversation. If the award is what it says it is, which is the best player in college football, then he deserves to be in the conversation."

Sure, a lot can happen between now and the 2019 draft to hurt Oliver's pro prospects, but there isn't much downside to him making his intentions known now. If Oliver has an underwhelming 2019 season, then he can simply walk back Monday's announcement and return for his senior year.

Assuming he stays healthy, Oliver will warrant first-round status this time next year.

INDIANAPOLIS — When Central Florida linebacker Shaquem Griffin came to the scouting combine, he knew he'd face skepticism from NFL teams. After all, Griffin's combine invite had come late—not until Jan. 30—despite an outstanding Senior Bowl week, his status as the 2016 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an eye-opening 12-tackle, 1.5-sack game against Auburn in the Peach Bowl, which was punctuated by a late interception caused by yet another Griffin pressure of quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

Griffin knew he'd have doubters for one reason: He did everything he did in college without a left hand. Griffin's hand was amputated at age four because a rare birth condition called amniotic band syndrome had prevented his fingers from fully developing and caused great physical pain. That didn't stop Griffin, who attended UCF with twin brother Shaquill, who was selected by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2017 draft and is now one of the up-and-coming cornerbacks in the league.

None of that mattered for Shaquem's professional prospects, though. He'd have to come here and prove he could back up everything on his tape with a level of athleticism commensurate with NFL talent.

Griffin wasted no time doing so, amazing everybody—including his fellow linebackers—Saturday by completing 20 reps in the 225-pound bench press with a prosthetic device clamped to the weight bar.

If that wasn't enough, Griffin ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash Sunday on his first attempt at Lucas Oil Stadium, setting the amazement bar even higher. It was the same 40 time Shaquill had run a year prior—but Shaquem is 33 pounds heavier.

The historic achievement did not go unnoticed:

List of every defensive player at the NFL combine to weigh at least 225 lbs and run a sub 4.4 40 (since at least 2000):

Shaquem Griffin
/end list

Griffin is 227 lbs & ran an unofficial 4.38 in the 40.

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 4, 2018

Not a bad way to dominate your combine experience. Griffin's second 40 time of 4.58 was more in line with what one would expect of a 227-pound linebacker, but it's the first time that will stick with observers. Moreover, it will have NFL personnel going back to his game tape with the Knights, hoping to match that track speed to field speed.

They will have no issue doing so. Whatever you may think of Griffin's NFL future, there's no question he plays with tremendous speed and maximum effort, careening around the field to stop plays far away from his point of origin too often for it to be a fluke.

Griffin recorded 44 solo tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles in 2017 after he amassed 57 solo tackles, 20.0 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles in 2016. He is nothing if not an impact player on the field.

What a moment in our Combine coverage today — @Shaquemgriffin putting up 20 reps of 225 with a prosthetic left hand. Inspiring, emotional, wonderful. pic.twitter.com/InLBEFQwS4

— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) March 3, 2018

"So many people are going to have doubts about what I can do, and obviously, it started at the bench press," Griffin said Saturday, a few hours after he completed his 20 reps. "Some people think I can do three, some people think I can do five, some people didn't think I could do the bench press. But I did it and competed with everybody else and did 20, and that's just one step closer to everything I need to accomplish. There's going to be a lot more doubters saying what I can't do, and I'm ready to prove them wrong."

That he did. Griffin owned his drills and his press conference, and judging from the ways top brass were speaking about him during the week—before they even met with him—you can imagine he was well-received in team interviews.

"I had somebody tell me they had met John Wooden before and that the feeling they got sitting down with John Wooden for five minutes was the same feeling they got from him," Seahawks general manager John Schneider said of Griffin earlier in the week, comparing him to the legendary UCLA basketball coach (Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is a huge fan of Wooden's motivational tactics). "I haven't been able to do that personally yet, so I am pretty excited about that. He's a special dude. And I say that because he was at our Jacksonville game and everybody made a big effort to make sure that I just didn't bump into him and violate any National Football League rules."

Pete Carroll’s reaction to Shaquem Griffin’s 4.38 pic.twitter.com/YH3SwMcfLS

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) March 4, 2018

Before meeting with Griffin, Vikings GM Rick Spielman said that, based on tape, Griffin would be evaluated as any other football player—which is all Griffin has ever wanted.

"Very unique player," Spielman said. "I haven't had an opportunity to meet him yet, but outstanding kid. He's very exciting to watch on film because he just plays with his heart, with passion, and he gives you everything he has on every snap. I don't think [his having one hand] should be a factor, just because he's shown he can be productive at a high level against some high-level competition. I think each team will make that determination, but we think he's a heck of a football player, and that won't be a factor for us."

In addition, Griffin has been a source of inspiration to the players he's spending time with this week, as former Washington linebacker Keishawn Bierria told me Saturday afternoon. Bierria was at the same podium where Griffin had his star turn a few minutes later.

"I was right there when he came down [from the bench press], and I went over and congratulated him," Bierria said. "That was impressive. Anyone who thinks he can't do something, that's his answer, right there. I bet a lot of people were wondering, 'How is he gonna do this?' I knew he'd have something in the bag, and he just got up there and did his own thing. He's a football player, and for him to go out there and knock out 20 reps, it was nothing to him. It's just another part of this combine. He's going to do whatever he can to be seen as a football player for the right team who says, 'OK—we can do something with this guy.'

"For a guy who's going through that kind of adversity, and he doesn't even flinch? It's pretty special. That shows the type of guy he is and what he's willing to overcome. He's breaking all barriers, really. He's willing to take every step, and I have nothing but respect for him. He stands out, but at the end of the day, he's a football player."

Cardinals general manager Steve Keim spoke more specifically to Griffin's attributes, saying it's about being creative with the talent you have on your roster.

"You have to admire the type of success he's had already with that impairment," Keim said. "But I think when you look at certain players like that, there is something to be said for what is in their heart. It's something you'd have to talk to the trainers about and see what his restrictions would be moving forward. Again, putting players in a position to succeed, that would be a key—can he do the things we ask him to do?"

Keim's words were intriguing, because the Cardinals have been outside-the-box thinkers when it comes to defensive players; they like hybrid guys who can do multiple things, and they have a specific precedent that could point to NFL success for Griffin.

In 2017, Arizona selected Temple edge-rusher Haason Reddick with the 13th overall pick in the draft. Because of injury issues, the Cardinals moved him from edge defender to inside pass-rushing linebacker. Reddick had 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in his rookie season.

Griffin might start his NFL career in a similar fashion—as a moveable chess piece in a versatile defense, alternating between blitzing and run-stopping and some coverage.

"After the weigh-in, I talked with a few teams, and they didn't think I was going to be able to gain weight from 227—getting a better feel of being a 'Will' or 'Sam' linebacker or in a stack or in a 3-4 where I can be that guy at the line of scrimmage or be a guy who moves around," Griffin said. "I have some teams tell me I move like a DB; well, I've been a DB most of my life. I still have the feet for it, and that's why I was able to be at the Senior Bowl and move and progress at each and every position.

"I want them to know that I don't have to be the guy who just rushes the quarterback. You need somebody to cover? I can cover not just tight ends but slots too. I got a few interceptions against some slots. I want to show NFL teams that, whatever you need help at, I'm the player. You want me to play kicker or punter? All I gotta do is get a good stretch in, and I can kick the ball too."

In a league that increasingly prizes versatility, that attitude will go a long way. But the truth of Shaquem Griffin is this: You can throw away the feel-good story, just as you can junk the narrative that he's somehow less of a player than others at his position because he has one hand. The real story is of a remarkable young man who has transcended what could be a massive limitation for others and shown he's every bit the equal of anyone in his draft class.

That's the story the NFL is going with, and that's the story that will follow Griffin through the rest of the predraft process, through his rookie season and through the rest of his life.

Of all the things Griffin has been—a brother, an inspiration—and overcome in his life, this week he made it clear he's also a damn promising football player.