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Tight end Garrett Griffin patiently waited for his time since signing with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent out of the U.S. Air Force Academy in June 2016.

He spent the 2016 season on the practice squad, and then took the same route for the first 12 weeks of the 2017 season before he received the call.

With tight end Coby Fleener landing on injured reserve, the Saints elevated Griffin from the practice squad to the active roster in time for Week 13's game against the Carolina Panthers.



"I was excited, for sure," Griffin said. "But I tried to stay as calm as I could and just make sure I was ready with whatever they needed me to do."

While it was a long road given his starting point, he credits his military background as a foundation to keep level and maintain readiness for any opportunity.

"When you're at the Academy or in the military, you're always ready, prepared, but you don't really know when it's going to come," Griffin said. "So, just not knowing but being prepared helped me this last week, and then just the preparation aspect of the last year and a half."

The 6-4, 240-pound Griffin logged just two offensive snaps against the Panthers, but suiting up for his first career NFL game came with perfect timing.

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Griffin should be in Payton's graces if Hill keeps fumbling trying to get another 3 inches out of a first down.