'He's That Type of Guy': Jaguars' Shaquill Griffin Nominated For 2021 Art Rooney Award

One of the highest honors teams award to players each season has been bestowed upon Jaguars veteran cornerback Shaquill Griffin, with the team nominating Griffin for this year's Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.

Each NFL team annually nominates one of its players for the award, which recognizes players around the league who exemplify outstanding sportsmanship on the field. The award was created in 2014 in honor of the late founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Rooney Sr.

A panel of former players – Warrick Dunn, Larry Fitzgerald, Curtis Martin, and Leonard Willer – will select eight finalists (four in the AFC and four in the NFC) from the 32 nominees. The eight finalists will be listed on the Pro Bowl ballot under the NFL Sportsmanship Award category when players vote later this month.

Griffin signed a three-year, $40 million deal with the Jaguars this March after four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. Voted as a team captain for the first time in his career, Griffin has been looked to as one of the leaders of the Jaguars' locker room and more specifically the secondary, with Griffin taking rookie cornerback Tyson Campbell under his wing.

"He’s a great person number one. He’s always coaching the younger guys," Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen said about Griffin on Thursday.

"Even when we didn’t have him, he’s out there with TC [CB Tyson Campbell] coaching him up, talking through things, [saying], ‘Hey, you have to do this.’ He comes off the field, I’m talking about in practice, coaching them up. He’s just a pro in terms of that and we’re glad he’s back. But [I’m] not shocked at all, that’s a great honor to have.”

Griffin has missed the last two games but has been seen as the lynchpin of the Jaguars' secondary and as a valuable resource for Campbell and other defensive backs on the team. Campbell is one of the Jaguars' key pieces moving forward and has made an emphasis in his first season with the team to pass down the type of leadership he was given in Seattle.

“It’s invaluable. When you get the level where we want to get to, there’s usually one of those guys in every room that really can coach the room if you walked out, and he’s that type of guy," Cullen said.

"Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, there has been a lot of people. I have been with a lot of vets, so I was fortunate to have a guy that has been in the league for eight years. Cliff Avril, who was in the league for I think 12 years when I got there and Michael Bennett," Griffin said on Wednesday when talking about those he was able to learn from as a young player.

"There are a lot of people who have seen a lot of ball, so I was grateful and definitely felt good to be with a group like that and be able to learn that early. My main thing is that I am going to teach it. I remember the game where [Tyson] really started to turn things around and the first thing he said was ‘You know what Shaq, I am going to play for you’ and that is what it comes down to. This is a family now and whatever it takes to get the job done and I am fighting for your name on the back of your jersey and we are family. I would run through a brick wall for you. When he said that, I knew the confidence was there and there was nothing that was going to stop him.”