Professional
Griffin was drafted by the Denver Broncos of the National Football League with the 11th pick of the fourth round (108th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft. He went on to appear in 16 games, including five starts in his initial two seasons in the league. He even set a Broncos franchise record in 2004 for most rushing yards in a season opener with a career-high 156 yards on 23 carries against the Kansas City Chiefs while also scoring the first three touchdowns of his pro career. His rise to the top came to a sudden halt in 2004 when he tore the ACL in his right knee in Week 7, ending his season early.
Although he was highly productive in two seasons with the Broncos, totaling 179 rushes for 656 yards (3.7 avg.) and two touchdowns, in addition to catching 18 passes for 129 yards and one score, the injury caused him to drop to the bottom of the depth chart behind Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell and Ron Dayne. In September 2005, Denver released Griffin and then brought him back a few weeks later, only to release him again the next month, but this time for good.
In March 2006, Griffin agreed to terms with the Kansas City Chiefs on a one-year deal, but in September 2006, he was cut from the team.
On February 23, 2007, Griffin was chosen by the Hamburg Sea Devils as the second overall pick in the NFL Europa Free Agent Draft. Griffin was the Sea Devils' top rusher with a 4.6 yard average and was third-best among starting running backs in the NFLE. The multi-dimensional Griffin also led NFL Europa in kickoff return average.
On February 29, 2008, he was signed to a one-year plus an option year contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was released by the Roughriders on June 20, 2008, following the team's final preseason game. According to media reports, Roughriders' head coach Ken Miller was "so upset with Griffin following (the game) that he cut the former NFLer at the airport." Griffin had reportedly "pulled himself out of the game early in the second quarter, telling the coaches 'he didn't have any interest in playing a preseason game where he might get hurt'."
Read more about this topic: Quentin Griffin
Famous quotes containing the word professional:
“The American character looks always as if it had just had a rather bad haircut, which gives it, in our eyes at any rate, a greater humanity than the European, which even among its beggars has an all too professional air.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“Never be intimidated when you deal with men. Curse, don’t cry.”
—Anonymous, U.S. professional woman. As quoted in Aspirations and Mentoring in an Academic Environment, ch. 4, by Mary Niles Maack and Joanne Passet (1994)