- For 13 years, Josh Griffin served in the US military where he's seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and worked with special operations forces.
- Now, at 33-years-old, he's trading in his rifle for shoulder pads and a helmet.
- As part of a special Army program, Griffin can complete the last two years of his bachelor's degree at Colorado State University while remaining on active duty.
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When 33-year-old Houston, Texas, native Josh Griffin steps onto the gridiron at Colorado State University this year, he will do so as the oldest player in college football. He'll also do so as an active duty US Army staff sergeant with special operations combat experience.
For the past 13 years, Griffin has served as a member of the 10th Airborne Special Forces Group and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, according to Colorado State University Magazine. Over the past decade, Griffin has seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and trained with the elite US Army Rangers and Green Beret special forces. Some of those missions, according to the Coloradoan, are steeped in secrecy.
Griffin was able to make his transition to the football field thanks to a special Army program that lets him attend college in the US while remaining on an active duty ROTC program. Now, with two years left to complete his bachelor's degree, Griffin is trading in his rifle for shoulder pads and a helmet and is majoring in philosophy with a minor in military science. All of that, Griffin told The Coloradoan, is a dream come true.
"It was always a dream for me to play ball, and then when I got the opportunity to come back to school to finish a degree, I was like, OK, let me go to a school where I can see if I can walk on," Griffin said.
That dream almost led him elsewhere. According to The Coloradoan, the army veteran was weighing options all around the country, from Philadelphia in the northeast to schools closer to his hometown in Houston. It was only after he missed a flight to meet with coaches at the University of Southern California that he decided on a whim to Google CSU's program.
In an interview with The Coloradoan, CSU professor of military service Troy Thomas said he remembered receiving a knock on his office door a year and a half ago. When the door opened it was Griffin who entered, saying, "Hey, I think I'm going to try and go to school here."
"It's a good news story for him," Thomas told the Coloradoan. "But it's also a great story for CSU and CSU football. It's also a great thing for the Army. "
As a walk-on, Griffin is still floating between positions and it's unclear how much playing time he'll ultimately receive. The time spent running the ball and breaking through tackles though, is only one component of Griffin's value according to CSU coach Mike Bobo.
"He has influence," Bobo told the Coloradoan 'He's older. He's done a great job of taking these guys under his wing. If something happens, the first person they call a lot of times is Josh, and I think that's great."
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