Always Ready To Play

Fort Smith Southside's Grayson Griffin is one of those guys who comes ready to play every Friday night.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior tight end arrived at Southside as a skinny 170 pounder who loved contact so much he played on the offensive line. But last offseason, he started shaking it up between morning and afternoon workouts.

"I got in a routine where I was drinking shakes with protein and carbohydrates four times a day and I was drinking Creatine once a day," Griffin said. "I basically gained 40 pounds over one offseason."

Griffin maintains a healthy lifestyle after becoming fully aware of how important his health was after being diagnosed with Burkett's Lymphoma as a 3-year-old living in Little Rock. He received what has proven to be a successful round of chemotherapy at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

"Every summer, every year, I had to go in to get blood taken to make sure everything was going all right," Griffin said. "Last year was the last year I had to do it, so they said I was good-to-go and they didn't have to keep checking up on me."

Griffin moved to Fort Smith when he was 8-years-old. He attended Fairview Elementary and then Ramsey Junior High, where he played center for the football team. He regularly attends First Baptist Church in Fort Smith with his parents, Don and Debbie Griffin, and sister, Annie Griffin.

Grayson Griffin said his dream car is a corvette. His favorite movie "has to be 'Billy Madison'," while his favorite sports movie is "Friday Night Lights."

When he's not playing football, Griffin likes to play his Gibson guitar and he mostly strums along to classic rock or heavy metal. He's also into computers and plans to major in computer engineering at the University of Arkansas next fall.

As for this fall, Griffin said the team is simply trying to focus and keep playing with the heart that won Southside the state championship last year.

"A lot of times, we've just shot ourselves in the foot and I think once we get going and eliminate our mistakes, we're going to be a great football team," Griffin said. "As a lot of people know, we have a really young line and we all just need to try to work to get more physical and get into a rhythm where that's a constant every week.

"We travel with a target on our backs every week because we are the defending state champs. Everyone has our game circled, so we have to come out ready to go every week."

Griffin certainly does.