Maxwell Griffin (born September 17, 1987 in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Career

College and Amateur

Griffin attended

Littlerock High School Littlerock High School is a public, co-educational high school built in 1989. It is located in Littlerock, California, United States. The school serves Littlerock and the surrounding communities of Lake Los Angeles, Pearblossom, and Llano. It ...

and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

from 2006 to 2009, where he racked up a litany of accolades, receiving a selection to the All-Pac-10 team, and an NSCAA All-Far West selection. He was also nominated for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, and as a senior led the team with four game-winning goals, moving him up to sixth in the all-time UCLA scoring record books . Griffin netted 28 goals overall in his career, increasing his total in each of the four seasons at the school and is one of just 18 players to have scored a hat trick for UCLA in its 43-year history. During his college years Griffin also played with the

San Fernando Valley Quakes San Fernando Valley Quakes was an American association football, soccer team based in Calabasas, California, Calabasas, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of th ...

and the

Los Angeles Legends LA Laguna FC was an American soccer team based in the Los Angeles area, United States. Founded in 2010, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL) (now USL League Two), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Sou ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

Professional

Upon graduating from UCLA, Griffin signed a one-year deal with the

Austin Aztex FC Austin Aztex FC was an American professional soccer team based in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 2008, the team played in the USL First Division, and in the USL Division of the USSF D2 Pro League, the second tier of the American Soc ...

of the

USSF Division 2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

on March 23, 2010. He made his professional debut on April 11, 2010, in Austin's first game of the 2010 season, a 2–0 victory over Montreal Impact, scored his first professional goal on May 29 in a 2–0 win over

Crystal Palace Baltimore Crystal Palace Baltimore was an American professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Founded in 2006, the club was originally named Crystal Palace USA and was affiliated with English side Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. The cl ...

, and scored a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

on June 19, 2010 in a 3–1 win over

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

. Prior to the 2011 season, new owners purchased the club and moved it to

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, renaming it Orlando City. The club will play in the

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

league in 2011. At the end of the 2011

season, Griffin moved on loan to

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

. He last played for

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

in the North American Soccer League.

Retirement

Griffin officially retired from professional soccer in April 2014. On his official Facebook page, Griffin stated "After 22 years of playing soccer and these last 4 playing professionally, I've decided to hang up the boots. It's sad to think that I won't be playing as a career anymore, but I am beyond excited to be starting the next chapter of my life at the adidas HQ in Portland. I have met so many amazing people and created lifelong friendships along the way. So thankful and blessed to have had the support of my friends and family throughout my life and career. Also a huge thank you to PROficient Agency for creating so many opportunities for me as a player and making this a very exciting journey."

Personal

Maxwell is the younger brother of fellow professional soccer player Leonard Griffin. Griffin has also dabbled in acting, and featured in

JoJo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians *JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwri ...

's music video for her 2006 hit song "

Too Little Too Late "Too Little Too Late" is a song by American singer JoJo from her second studio album, '' The High Road'' (2006). It was written by Billy Steinberg, Josh Alexander and Ruth-Anne Cunningham, and produced by the former two with Da Family Records fou ...

" alongside several of his

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

teammates.

Honors

Club

;Orlando City *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual

* USSF D-2 Pro League Rookie of the Year:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

*
UCLA bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Maxwell 1987 births Living people American soccer players Association football defenders Austin Aztex FC players LA Laguna FC players Major League Soccer players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players Orange County SC players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players People from Palmdale, California San Fernando Valley Quakes players San Jose Earthquakes players Soccer players from California UCLA Bruins men's soccer players USL Championship players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players