BEFORE DEPARTING for the NFL in 2006, Cedric Griffin helped the Longhorn football team win a national championship. Now he’s back in town, having completed his career in the NFL and now hoping to spread the benefits of fitness for people of all ages through his new 7 Fit Studio.
A recruit out of San Antonio Holmes High School, Griffin came to Texas in 2002 and played defensive back for then-defensive backs coach Duane Akina, adding to the legendary DBU fraternity at Texas.
[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]
“The DBs are like a family,” Griffin said. “When a bunch of us are in town we get together and do DB drills. Even the guys that weren’t in the NFL will get together and go eat and go to a movie. It’s a brotherhood. We’re all in cahoots and keep up with each other.”
Griffin credits Akina for his growth as both a player and a man.
“Akina’s the man,” he said. “He’s a tough cookie but at the end of the day he made it work and made us play at a higher level. We love the hell out of him.”
In 2005, along with a group in the defensive backfield that included Aaron Ross, Michael Griffin, Michael Huff and Aaron Harris, Griffin helped Texas to a perfect 13-0 season record. This was the same season the Longhorns took the national championship against USC in the Rose Bowl. The family-like bonds and competitiveness factored into their success, according to Griffin.
“I didn’t grow up with a brother and I always wanted a brother,” Griffin said. “Just having all those guys around that were similar to me — to my attitude, my physical attributes — it made me want to lock onto the guys and learn from them as they learned from me.” The following spring the Minnesota Vikings drafted Griffin in the second round. Five of Griffin’s team- mates also heard their name called during the NFL Draft in 2006.
In the NFL, Griffin played for the Vikings from 2007 through 2011 and spent one season with the Redskins in 2012 before finishing his NFL career in early 2013. Griffin said being drafted remains one of his favorite memories of his time in the NFL because it validated all of the hard work he had to put in to get to that point.
“In the NFL I learned that you have to get up and play every day,” Griffin said. “As a business owner it’s the same. You have wake up everyday and go to work because if you don’t your competitor is coming to get you.”
When his NFL career came to a close in 2013, Cedric returned to Austin and set about the formation of 7 Fit Studio.
After acquiring a one-time storage unit building in late 2013, Griffin set about converting the space into a workout facility. The more than 10,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor facility, which now features a field turf workout field, several workout studios for a variety of classes and a half-court outdoor basketball court, opened in April 2014.
With fitness and wellness for all levels as a focal point, Griffin stressed that 7 Fit Studio is a training facility and not a gym. He hopes that people of all ages and fitness levels will come to the facility to improve their health. The “7” corresponds to completeness, and Griffin hopes that 7 Fit Studio members will attain complete fitness through the seven areas of fitness, which include yoga, bodyweight training, weight training, cardio workouts, Primal 7 (fitness resistance bands), kickboxing and core workouts. Along with running the business Griffin teaches some of the classes.
“I want people to feel comfortable about coming here, working out and having someone instruct them,” Griffin said. “I want to help people understand their bodies and learn a better way to fitness. It’s not just lifting weights — there are alternative ways to being healthy.”
When not at 7 Fit Studio, Griffin enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife, Kelly, have two sons, Swayde (8) and Cedric (7). They enjoy visiting nearby parks and heading to Lake Travis to fish and swim.
[/s2If]
[s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]
[article-offer]
[/s2If]
Be sure to CLICK HERE and check out 7 Fit Studio.
This article originally appeared in the January 2015 issue of Horns Illustrated magazine.
Discover more from Horns Illustrated
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.