Think about this: Only one football player has scored 8 touchdowns in a single college game and also scored 2 touchdowns in a Super Bowl. That man is Howard Griffith, the premier studio analyst for the Big Ten Network.
Back in 1990 Griffith broke Jim Brown’s college record which has since been tied. The University of Illinois was coasting late in their game against Southern Illinois when head coach John Mackovic told a reluctant Griffith he might never get this chance (to score an eighth TD) again. “We called a pitch play and I ended up breaking the record.”
But that wasn’t all. Griffith became a very sturdy pro playing almost exclusively as a blocking back and for four years, did so for Broncos’ star Terrell Davis. But in Super Bowl XXXII he scored 2 touchdowns and could have gotten a third if not for this being John Elway’s final game so he got a chance. He might have been named the MVP. “I think it would have been hard for them not to award me the MVP,” Griffith says on the show.
Since his retirement, Griffith has made the most of his other talents- talking. He’s become an outstanding analyst for the Big Ten Network. “One of the things I love about it is being around young people.” And Griffith has meshed well with his BTN studio partners, Dave Revsine and Gerry DiNardo.
Griffith is also an avid bicycle rider and a member of the century club. Yes, that’s riding 100 miles! Not bad for a guy 55 but Griffith remains in great shape.
A native of Chicago, Griffith has two sons whose he never encouraged to play football and he’s also the president of the Suburban Hyde Park Neighborhood Junior Spartans Program. “I just wanted to give kids in our area an opportunity to go out and play.”
Safe to say the well rounded Griffith is making the most of life.
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