Marcus Kevin Griffin (born January 4, 1985) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

and entered the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

; however, he went unselected. Griffin was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

on April 28, 2008, but subsequently waived on June 30, 2008. He has a twin brother

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, who played with him at Texas.

Early life

Griffin attended Bowie High School where he was coached by Jeff Ables. As a senior, he earned ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...

'' All-Central Texas honors as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and was first team All-district on both offense and

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. He made 82

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

-including 62 solo, 3

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

, and 1

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recovery. He also played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. As a quarterback he threw for 1028 yards and rushed for 560.

College career

Griffin was a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album) or the title song, 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album) or the title song, 1992 *''Walk On'', by Kellie Coffey, 200 ...

at UT in 2003. The 5th year strong safety had a great first year as a starter as he earned UT's Outstanding Defensive Newcomer Award. In all 5 years in college, he had 227 tackles, 6 interceptions and 91 yards. Griffin started his career with the Longhorns as a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

with the

2004 Texas Longhorns football team The 2004 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by head football coach Mack Brown and led on the field by quarterback Vince Young. Ranked t ...

. That year, he played in all 12 games and made 10 tackles, including 7 on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. In 2005, he played in all 13 games for the

2005 Texas Longhorns football team The 2005 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, winning the Big 12 Conference championship and the national championship. The team was coached by Mack Bro ...

at free safety and on special teams and recorded 32 tackles. In 2006, he appeared in 11 games for the

2006 Texas Longhorns football team The 2006 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head football coach was Mack Brown. The Longhorns (also known as Texas or UT or the Horns) played t ...

, starting 10, all at strong safety. The two missed games were against

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and Baylor and were due to injury. He was named a second-team Academic All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

honoree as well as UT's Outstanding Defensive Newcomer. Griffin had a great 2007 senior season, in which he led the Longhorns in tackles (99) and interceptions (5).

Personal

Marcus' twin brother,

Michael Griffin Mike or Michael Griffin may refer to: Public officials * Michael Griffin (Wisconsin politician) (1842–1899), Irish-born American congressman * Michael D. Griffin (born 1949), American physicist, NASA administrator and Under Secretary of Defense ...

, was also a defensive back at UT. Michael was a first rounder for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

in the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. Their parents, Ronald and Mae, are both retired from the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

References

External links

*
Marcus Griffin Texas Longhorn Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Marcus 1985 births Living people American twins Players of American football from Austin, Texas American football safeties American football quarterbacks Texas Longhorns football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen