Robert Otis "Griff" Griffith (born November 30, 1970) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

in the National Football League (NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the San Diego State Aztecs. He played 13 seasons in the NFL, mostly for the Minnesota Vikings from

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. He also played three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, and two seasons with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, In 2008, he retired as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Griffith also served as an Executive Member of the NFLPA (National Football League Player's Association) for six years. Currently, he is CEO and Chairman of Matador Enterprises Inc.

Early life and college

Griffith played high school football, basketball and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

Mount Miguel High School Mount Miguel High School is a public, comprehensive high school located in Spring Valley, California and serves over 1,400 students in grades nine through twelve. Opened in 1957, Mount Miguel is the fourth of twelve high schools constructed in t ...

in Spring Valley, California (near San Diego) where he earned All- CIF honors. Griffith played

at San Diego State University where one of his teammates was future St. Louis Rams running back

Marshall Faulk Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. He is widely regarded as one of the grea ...

. He walked on to the SDSU football team as an undersized cornerback, but quickly became an indispensable member of the team. He started 3 seasons and was the heralded defensive team captain. He was a second-team All- WAC selection in 1992. Griffith also earned his Electrical Engineering degree in 1994. After going undrafted in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

, Griffith signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

NFL and pro football career

After college, Griffith had a brief stint in the Canadian Football League playing for the Gold Miners. Soon after, Griffith had the opportunity to play in the NFL and joined the Minnesota Vikings. In his first two seasons, he was mostly used as a backup and as a special teams player before having a breakthrough year in the 1996 season. That season, he made four interceptions for 66 yards, and made 96 tackles. He was named All-Pro by '' Pro Football Weekly'', and was second-team Associated Press All-Pro in the 1998 season after having a career-high of five interceptions, finishing fifth in the

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

. He made the Pro Bowl after the 2000 season after starting in all 16 games, making one interception and 104 tackles. Griffith broke their long-standing special team record for 29 tackles. After eight seasons with the Vikings, Griffth signed a free agent contract with the Browns during the 2002 offseason, where he became one of the most experienced members in a young defense.Pasquarelli, Le
Griffith guarantees he'll be ready for season opener
''ESPN'', August 3, 2003. Retrieved on March 11, 2009. He started in 44 games with the Browns earning six interceptions and 408 tackles in his three seasons. He led them in tackles with 118 in the 2004 season. He was released on February 27, 2005 as a cap casualty by then recently hired head coach,

Romeo Crennel Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Cre ...

, who was trying to rebuild the franchise following a 4-12 season.Griffith led team in tackles
Associated Press, February 28, 2005. Retrieved on September 15, 2006. He then signed a two-year contract with the Cardinals, where he started his last season and was active in all 16 games, making 79 tackles and three interceptions for 30 yards. In 2008, he signed a contract to retire as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Robert was also a three-time All-Madden Selection, earned the 1999 Ed Block Courage and NFLPA Unsung Hero Awards, NFL Special Effort Awards and the 2000 Minnesota Man of the Year Award. Griffith has modeled for Bad Boy clothing in an ad that appeared in '' Rolling Stone'', '' Vibe'' and '' The Source'' magazines and appeared in '' Sports Illustrated for Women'' 2000 Swimsuit Issue. He also played alongside Vivica A. Fox in the Kelly Price vocaled remake of

Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance wit ...

's "As We Lay" music video. Griffith began the Robert Griffith Foundation during the 1998 offseason which provides college scholarships for at risk and disadvantaged youth throughout the country.

NFL statistics

Philanthropy

In 1998, he founded the Robert Griffith Foundation, a highly successful program which provides college scholarships to underprivileged high school seniors. Effectively to date the foundation has sponsored 36 graduates from colleges across the US including West Point, University of Michigan and

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

to name a few. To continue the success of this project, Griffith also initiated the Viking Challenge which targets K-6th graders and challenges them in five core areas of success: responsibility, non-violence, academic improvement, drug and alcohol abstinence. Each participating student signs a contract to commit to improving in these areas and, if accomplished, receives recognition and is awarded admission to a Viking Home Game. To this day, the program has been highly beneficial to the schools, children and community with clearly positive results.

Personal life

Griffith resides in Southern California. An avid cyclist, he is also well-traveled and has spent much time in the Americas and Europe for both business and pleasure.

References

External links

Griffith NFL.com profileNFL players profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Robert 1970 births Living people Players of American football from San Diego American football safeties San Diego State Aztecs football players Minnesota Vikings players Cleveland Browns players Arizona Cardinals players National Conference Pro Bowl players Sacramento Mountain Lions coaches Sacramento Mountain Lions United Football League (2009–2012) executives People from Spring Valley, San Diego County, California People from Lanham, Maryland Players of American football from Prince George's County, Maryland