McGriff Ready to Rebound After Freak Accident Ended His 2023 Season Before It Began
It was a frightening accident that could have–some thought would have–ended his football career.
But 11 months after a horrific off-field accident on the McMaster campus, Tiger-Cats receiver Justin McGriff has returned to the team and was in rookie practice this week. He had impressed everyone during last year’s full training camp and was surely going to make the roster when, just as the team was to break camp, he suffered the injury.
“I broke my tibia, it was a bad compound fracture,” McGriff told the Ticats Audio Network in an interview which can heard in its entirety here.
“It was a crazy accident. No hard feelings, it was about wrong place, wrong time. But it was pretty hard to be told that I couldn’t play football after the camp I had. It was tough, but it’s a blessing that I got back in the time that I got back.”
“I just want to give my heart to this team, give my heart to this city, I want to give my heart to this country.”
He will be monitored closely during regular training camp to make sure there are no ill-effects from heavy workouts, and from contact.
Last year at 6-foot-6 and at just 22 years of age, he was the youngest American at training camp and the tallest of all players. This year the Ticats have recruited three or four receivers his size or taller.
“It was crazy to come back out here and see the height,” he smiles. “After always being the tallest it felt different to be a normal guy in the room. But it’s also fun too having guys who are your size, doing what I can do, all over the field. It just makes it fun all around.”
McGriff says being here last year has made this year’s camp easier because he’s more comfortable, allowing him to do more things at his top speed, which is considerable for a player of his size.
McGriff was a star at Utah—just the 37th player in the long history of the program to have a 1,000-yard season—but when he wasn’t drafted he didn’t sniff around NFL camps but instead came immediately north. And unlike many players who red-shirt in high school and college in order to be older and more prepared for the next level, he finished high school early (at 17) and had graduated college by the age of 22.
“I’ve always believed in getting experience as quick as possible,” he told Ticats Audio Network. “I know this about football: the best ability is avail-ability, so I feel if I’m available I can stay in the game way longer. I wanted to accelerate my game, so I took the extra time, I took the extra classes, took the extra reps. So, after the kind of injury I had I can still come back and still be young and compete with everyone else.
“I have faith in myself and took a chance to come here early and show some of those NFL teams that did miss out on me that this is the guy they shouldn’t have missed out on.
“But right now, after I got so much love and support from the fans here and across Canada I just want to give my heart to this team, give my heart to this city, I want to give my heart to this country. Honestly.”
