BIOGRAPHY
Everson Griffen was born on December 22nd, 1987 in Avondale, Arizona and currently plays defensive end in the NFL.
He attended Agua Fria high school where he was Named Super Prep and Scout.com Player of the Year in Arizona. He was Consensus All-American and Gatorade Circle of Champions Player of the Year for Arizona. As a senior he had 16.0 sacks on defense and ran for 1,251 yards and 20 TDs on offense.
He played college football at the University of Southern California; as a freshman in 2007 he appeared in 13 games and recorded 21 tackles, including 5.5 for losses of 30 yards (all were sacks), two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two pass deflections. He was Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year and was an All-Pac-10 honorable mention pick.
As a sophomore in 2008 he played in 12 games starting 3 of them, he recorded 18 tackles, including 6 for losses of 43 yards (with 4.5 sacks for minus 39 yards). In 2009 as a junior he recorded 45 total tackles, eight sacks, one pass defense, and one forced fumble; he earned second team All-Pac-10.
Griffen was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the second pick in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft; he played in 11 games and recorded 11 tackles, all of them solo.
In 2011 he played in all 16 games recording 4.0 sacks (4th on team) and was ranked 2nd on team with 18 special teams tackles. During the 2012 season he played in 7 games and recorded 5.0 sacks, 1 INT, 1 TD and 16 QB hurries.
In 2013 he played in 16 games and recorded 27 tackles (18 solo), 5.5 sacks and a forced fumble. During the 2014 season he started 16 games and recorded 57 combined tackles (41 solo), one forced fumble, one blocked punt for a touchdown, three passes defensed, and a career-best 12 sacks, which led the team and tied for ninth-best in the league. He was named Vikings Defensive MVP.
In 2015 he led the team on sacks with 10.5 and earned Pro Bowl honors for the 1st time in his career. In 2016 he recorded 61 tackles (41 solo), 10 TFL, 8.0 sacks, 68 QBHs, 2 FF, 3 FR (1 returned for a TD) and 1 PD; he was named to his second Pro Bowl.
During the 2017 season he recorded 47 tackles and career-highs in sacks (13.0) and FF (3) for the league’s top-ranked defense and was named to his 3rd Pro Bowl. During the 2018 season he played in 11 games and totaled 39 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
He signed a 1 year deal with the Detroit Lions in 2020. In 2021 he signed a deal with the Minnesota Vikings.
