Six Tampa Bay area high school football players heard their names called in the 2017 NFL Draft, with Lakewood's Shaquill Griffin the first to come off the board.
The UCF Football alum, who broke up 15 passes, tied for the second-most ever in Knights history, was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round, 90th overall, on Friday.
"It was crazy, almost like a dream come true," Griffin said Tuesday. "It was a lot of emotions, you know, going around that day. Somebody asked me did I cry. I said no, I think my mom did enough crying for everybody."
Well, expect more tears of joy from mom, Tangie.
Shaquill has yet to sign his rookie contract, but he's guaranteed to make at least $465,000 next season, not including his signing bonus. The total value of his deal could eclipse $3.3 million.
A lot of players would spend that money on a car, or an expensive night out. Not Shaquill.
"The first thing I'm going to do, I told my mom the other day, actually, is that I want to go ahead and pay off the house," Griffin said. "Get that stuff situated, renovated and do that for them."
The genorosity doesn't end there.
Griffin has plans to eventually build an athletic facility in St. Pete, fully equipped with an indoor track, a basketball court and more, hoping to provide those without the financial means to train a place to call home.
"The desire came from when I started my track program when I was 15," Griffin said. "I'm huge on giving back. Some people, they just need that type of assistance, that help, to understand they can do something different to try to make it out of St. Pete."
