<
        >

          NFL Nation

          That's right, brother! Griffin twins have big fan in Hulk Hogan

          • Brady Henderson, ESPNMay 4, 2018, 12:00 PM
            Close
              Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Henderson covers the Seattle Seahawks. He joined ESPN in 2017 covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM. You can follow him via Twitter @BradyHenderson.

          Here's when you know you've reached a certain level of fame:

          Hulk Hogan takes a picture with you and he's the one who tweets it out.

          Shaquill and Shaquem Griffin were evidently on that level even before Shaquem became the story of last week's NFL draft, when the Seattle Seahawks chose him in the fifth round and reunited him with his twin brother.

          Hogan, the pro wrestling legend whose real name is Terry Bollea, posted a picture of the three last month. They're posing in front of a wall on which several of the Hulkster's championship belts and other wrestling memorabilia are on display.

          His caption referred to the Griffin brothers, who starred at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, as "local heroes." They're from St. Petersburg, Florida, not far from where Hogan resides in Clearwater.

          "It was crazy hanging out with him, him taking us out to dinner and stuff," Shaquem told ESPN.com in an interview before the draft when asked about the picture with Hogan. "And he knew my dad. I wasn't expecting that, but him and my dad knew each other, so that was pretty fun."

          Added Shaquem: “My dad owns his own towing business, and my dad used to tow Hulk Hogan’s cars back and forth from Clearwater to different shops and stuff. And they had a relationship where when the cars would get done getting fixed, he’d pick it back up and take it back to Hulk Hogan’s house."

          TMZ Sports filmed an interview with the Griffin brothers, apparently while they were en route to Hogan's house to meet him. They appeared giddy at the opportunity.

          "It's going to be exciting," Shaquem said in the video. "Probably get a little wrestling match going on."

          Shaquill responded: "I think we'll both have to take him. We can't just do [one-on-one]. It's not fair."

          The brothers are 22, and as such, they're apparently too young to have grown up as true Hulkamaniacs. They favored more contemporary stars. Shaquem identified Big Show as his favorite. Shaquill mentioned Rey Mysterio.

          "We used to watch it all the time," Shaquem told TMZ. "I remember my dad, my dad was the one who used to watch it all the time. We started getting into it, and the next thing you know, me and my brother used to have all these wrestling matches inside the house, until we broke a vase and then we couldn't do it anymore."

          The brothers apparently didn't know about their dad's connection to Hogan until recently.

          "I had no idea, and I guess Hulk Hogan had no idea," Shaquem told ESPN.com, "so it’s kinda funny how everything worked out.”

          Hogan tweeted his congratulations to the two after the Seahawks drafted Shaquem.