Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen had a resurgent year with the Vikings in 2019.
He finished with eight sacks. He also had 11 tackles for loss and an interception. He played in every game in 2019, besides Week 17 when the Vikings rested their starters.
In 2018, Griffen went through personal issues, and he recently talked about them to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Here’s some of what he said about the situation:
“Nobody knew that I was living in a sober house,” Griffen told me by phone Thursday. “I lived in the sober house for three months, from October to the end of the (2018) season,” Griffen told Pelissero. “I was living like I was in college. Had a roommate, had a little bit of clothes. I was going to my meetings. I did the whole nine. That was a part of my recovery. Just to reset. I wanted to reset.”
Griffen also mentioned that he brought a pass dummy with him to the facility, and did not use his cell phone. Griffen persevered through those times, and now it appears that he will be rewarded for his 2019 efforts in free agency.