Steelers receiver Trey Griffey has been asked a million times why he plays football instead of baseball.
The son of Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and grandson of three-time MLB All-Star Ken Griffey Sr., Trey would seem to be destined to play baseball as well. But he says his reason for playing football instead of baseball is simple: He likes it better. And his dad was the first to realize that his son was better suited for trying to make it on his own as an athlete, rather than demanding that he go into the family business.
“Everybody has a love for something . . . and I have a love for football,” Trey told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Me and my dad talked about it and he said, ‘You have a love for football, and I could see that from a young age. I’ll always support you.’ He was never like, ‘You have to play baseball.’ He was a father, supporting his son with whatever choice I was making and leading me down the right path.”
So far, Trey Griffey hasn’t made his mark in the NFL. He played his college football at Arizona and went undrafted last year, and although he spent time on the rosters of the Colts and Dolphins in the offseason, he was out of the league for the entire 2017 season. In January the Steelers picked him up, however, and now he’s trying to make the roster in Pittsburgh.
Trey Griffey will have to surprise a lot of people to make the Steelers’ roster, but he knows he has a father who’s rooting for him, and urging him to put in the work necessary to make it in the sport he loves.
“My dad always told me, ‘I want to be known as Trey Griffey’s dad. I had my time when I was playing.’ That’s something that, when you hear that from your dad, you’re like, ‘Wow.’ With his track record, all of the awards and going to the Hall of Fame, for him to say something like that is amazing,” Trey Griffey said.
Sounds like Trey has a dad who’s proud of him for following his dream, whether he makes the Steelers or not.
