Ryan Walsh Griffin (born November 17, 1989) is an

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

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is a free agent. He was signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2013. 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 ...

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

. Griffin earned a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers for the 2020 season.

College career

At Tulane, after redshirting for the 2008 season, Ryan Griffin played in nine games of the 2009 season. He led the team in total offense, passing attempts, completions, passing yards, and touchdown passes, while finishing 2nd in completion percentage and passing efficiency. All of his offensive numbers stand as Tulane records for a freshman quarterback. Griffin started all 11 games he played in as a sophomore in the 2010 season, and ranked 6th in

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

in passing yards per game, 8th in total offensive yards per game, and 10th in passing efficiency. He gained more than 300 yards in 3 games, including a season-best 412 yards against

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. In the 2011 season, he started all 13 games and once again led the team in total offense, pass attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdown passes, and passing efficiency. As a senior in the 2012 season, he started all nine games he played in and was given an honorable-mention spot on the All-Conference USA team. He finished the season ranked 2nd in C-USA in passing yards per game and yards of total offense per game, and 5th in passing efficiency. Griffin threw for 300-plus yards 5 times with two 400-plus yard games, and twice set the school single-game passing record. He set the record the first time with 466 yards and a career-best 5 touchdown passes vs UAB and surpassed that with 476 yards and 4 touchdowns vs

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. Griffin holds the Tulane career records in pass attempts, completions, and completion percentage. He is 2nd in passing yards, passing yards per game, pass attempts per game, completions per game, and 300-yard passing games. Griffin finished his college career with 9,026 yards, 56 touchdowns, and 35 interceptions.

Statistics

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Griffin signed with the

as an undrafted free agent following the 2013 NFL Draft. He was released on August 31, 2013. On September 1, 2013, Griffin re-signed to the Saints' Practice Squad. He was placed on the active roster on October 22, 2013, only after the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

offered Griffin an opportunity to sign with them. To facilitate Griffin's signing to the active roster, linebacker

Martez Wilson Martez Jerome Wilson (born September 21, 1988) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian ...

was waived. On September 2, 2014, it was announced that the Saints had waived Griffin and re-signed kicker

Shayne Graham Michael Shayne Graham (born December 9, 1977) is an American football coach and former placekicker. Graham played 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech. He made his professional debut in Ma ...

to the 53-man roster. After clearing waivers on September 3, 2014, Griffin was re-signed to the Saints practice squad. To make room for Griffin, linebacker Todd Davis was released from the practice squad. Griffin was released on September 5, 2015, for final roster cuts before the start of the season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On September 6, 2015, Griffin was claimed off waivers by the Buccaneers. In 2015 and 2016, Griffin was the Buccaneers' third-string quarterback behind

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the He ...

and

Mike Glennon Michael Joseph Glennon (born December 12, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at NC State and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has also pl ...

, and did not see any game action. On August 30, 2017, Griffin signed a one-year contract extension with the Buccaneers. He was placed on injured reserve on September 4, 2017, after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason. He was activated off injured reserve to the active roster on November 7, 2017, to back up

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

after starter Winston was sidelined with an injury. On March 12, 2019, Griffin signed a two-year contract extension with the Buccaneers. In Week 14 of the 2019 season against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, he made his NFL debut, starting the second half for the Buccaneers as Winston suffered a hand injury late in the second quarter. Griffin completed 2 of 4 passes for 18 yards on a 6-play drive that resulted in a

Bradley Pinion Bradley Alexander Pinion (born June 1, 1994) is an American football punter and kickoff specialist for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the San Francisco 49er ...

punt. Winston returned to the game on the next Buccaneers possession and finished the game for a 38–35 victory. Griffin re-signed with the Buccaneers again on April 20, 2021. On August 31, 2021, Griffin was released by the Buccaneers and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. On March 31, 2022, the Buccaneers re-signed Griffin. He was released on August 30, 2022 and signed to the practice squad the next day.

References

External links

Tulane Green Wave bio

New Orleans Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Ryan 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Santa Monica, California American football quarterbacks Tulane Green Wave football players New Orleans Saints players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Chaminade College Preparatory School (California) alumni