Ben Griffiths: Journey from Australia to USC punterBy Anthony Gharib
Daily Trojan
October 29, 2021 
When asked if he remembered his first day in the United States, redshirt junior punter Ben Griffiths looked to the right and chuckled. His long, twirly mustache rose up as he spewed the details.
He said it went like this: After his 14-hour flight from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles, he went to his apartment, changed into a new shirt and headed straight to campus.
Griffiths didn’t wait in line at Dulce or try to catch lunch at Cava. Instead, he went to pick up his USC ID card.
“I was jet lagged as hell,” Griffiths said. “I pretty much dropped my bags off at my apartment, didn’t even have time for a shower. I had to go get my student ID done … That was a tough day.”
Although a long way away from the comfort of his home in Australia, Griffiths’ first day is a testament to who the punter is — a true professional and an extremely hard worker.
But, as he traveled to a new country, Griffiths faced a new challenge right: the Australian Football League veteran became a first-time college student at the age of 27.
It was the start of another chapter in his life, one filled with booming punts and sitting in a classroom for the first time in 10 years.
Early life and AFL successGriffiths’ love for football began during recess. Exposed to Australian football “at a really young age,” Griffiths became serious and joined Auskick, a developmental program in Australia meant for children to get introduced to the sport.
As he rose up in the program’s ranks, making it as a professional became a reality. At 18, drafted out of high school by the Richmond Tigers, Griffiths became a professional player.
The college sports culture prominent in the U.S. doesn’t exist in Australia, Griffiths said. Players are picked out of high school to compete and develop over the years.
“You get recruited from club level and high schools, mainly. Teams, when they draft, you can look at players as more investment,” Griffiths said. “Whereas, I think here you kind of skip that phase because the players between 18 and 21 spend time in college.”
Griffiths became an experienced professional, spending eight seasons with the Tigers before making a decision on his future: He wanted to get a degree to set himself up after retiring from sports permanently.
Australian football began to take a toll on the 6-foot-7, 240-pound man. Injuries stemming from not being fully developed at a young age gave him shoulder problems. Then, as the years went on and injuries persisted, he had a few concussions.
It left him with a choice.
“It put a lot of things in perspective for me. One of them being like, ‘What was I going to do post-football?’” Griffiths said. “Sport is always such a small part of your life. There’s so much lots of life after that.”
It was then where the idea of going to college appealed to Griffiths. Nearing his 30s, he quickly realized sports wouldn’t last forever and transitioned to getting a degree. He retired from the game at 26 and moved on to another football.
Read more at: https://dailytrojan.com/2021/10/29/ben-griffiths-journey-from-australia-to-usc-punter/
