Former American football quarterback Brian Griese is all about the children. From his non-profit to his child psychologist wife, the football player-turned-"Monday Night Football" color commentator has committed his life to helping children.
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Who is the famed former Denver Broncos quarterback's clinical psychologist wife, and how did he meet her?
Brian Griese's Wife Brook Griese
Dr. Brook Griese, co-founder of Judi's House, which provides free, research-based care to more than 9,000 grieving children and families is one of this year’s Top 25 Most Powerful Women! #CWCC #Top25 #Gala #YearoftheWoman #MeetTheTop25 pic.twitter.com/59Q8UuAsMI
— CO Women's Chamber (@cowomenschamber) January 19, 2018
@DMTF1 met Judi's House founder Brian Griese and Exec. Dir. Dr. Brook Griese at #nagc2016 in Indianapolis pic.twitter.com/XeSrCDIci1
— DMTF (@DMTF1) June 23, 2016
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Brian Griese, one of the voices of MNF, is married to Dr. Brook Griese. Originally born Brook McClintic, she is a clinical child psychologist from Michigan.
Growing up under a psychiatric nurse and director of the local county social services, Dr. Griese knew she wanted to work with children from a young age. After graduating from Michigan's Albion College in 1997, she attended the University of Colorado in Boulder to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology. In 2003, Brook McClintic became Dr. McClintic. In 2004, she became Dr. Brook Griese when the two married.
Dr. Griese met her NFL quarterback husband in Colorado when he played pro football for the Denver Broncos. Brian and Brook shared an instant connection. He suffered a tragedy at the age of 12 when he lost his mother, Judi Griese, to breast cancer. That trauma created a drive in Griese to be successful and to give back to children in need.
"I didn't feel like I had anybody to talk to about it," he told The Athletic. "I didn't know any other 12-year-old boys that were going through what I was going through and lost a parent. I didn't really talk about it with a whole lot of people.
"So it was a very difficult time to deal with grief and the loss of your attachment figure at any stage in life, but at the stage in life for me personally where you're really forming who you are. it affected me for my entire life."
Dr. Brook Griese felt the same passion, and together they launched Judi's House and the Judith Ann Griese (JAG) Institute in 2001 to support grieving children, caregivers and families. Dr. Griese has received the National Alliance for Grieving Children's Excellence in Service Award for her work.
Aside from being the co-founder of Judi's House, Dr. Griese is a painter, a published author and mother of two.
Brian & Brook Griese's Children
Juli's House is committed to supporting children and providing them with the resources to succeed.
According to the Denver Post, the Grieses welcomed their first child in 2006, a daughter named Annalia Rose. She also gave birth to a second child, according to the Colorado Expression, though that child's name is unknown.
"Having children has made the work I do at Judi's House even more salient for me—in terms of understanding the impact of the loss of a parent or the loss of a child on a family. It's harder to think about the pain," she told the Colorado Expression. "I can very easily put myself in those shoes, and the struggle it would be to grapple with that loss, move forward with life, and continue to care for your family and yourself. It has made it much more meaningful."
Much more is known about Brian and Brook Griese's philanthropy work with children than is known about their actual children. Perhaps that's because Brian Griese has a somewhat famous childhood of his own, beginning with his NFL quarterback father.
Brian Griese's Career
Highlight of the game so far - this awesome Griese on Griese handshake. @mgoblog pic.twitter.com/kxp0ymGzB3
— Eric Mally (@TheEricMally) December 31, 2016
Brian David Griese was born in Miami, Florida, in 1975, the youngest of Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese's three children. Young Brian, his older brothers Scott and Jeff, and Bob Griese suffered the tragic loss of Judi Griese to breast cancer when Brian was only 12. Bob Griese has since remarried, but Judi's memory is the inspiration behind Judi's House today.
Brian Griese was a multi-sport athlete at Christopher Columbus High School. He walked on as a quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines, turning down scholarships from Purdue and Kentucky in the process.
Griese played alongside college football and NFL great Charles Woodson, the future Hall of Fame cornerback for the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. The Associated Press named Michigan National Champions in 1997, the same year Woodson won the Heisman Trophy. (USA Today/ESPN named Nebraska the national champion in 1997, so Nebraska and Michigan shared the title. Our current playoff system isn't perfect, but it's better than that.)
Woodson got the Heisman, but Griese won the MVP of the 1998 Rose Bowl in a win over Washington State. Griese was taken by the Denver Broncos in the 1998 NFL Draft and spent the first half of his career in Colorado, where he met his wife, Dr. Brook Griese.
Brian Griese played for the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins (just like his father), Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears before retiring in 2009.
Griese had a remarkable professional football career. He won a Super Bowl over the Atlanta Falcons early in his career as a backup to John Elway. In doing so, Brian and his father Bob Griese became the first father-son duo ever to both win a Super Bowl and wrote a book about their lives together titled "Undefeated." Griese was named to a Pro Bowl in 2000, the same season he was the NFL passer rating leader.
Since retirement, Griese has worked for ESPN covering college football and "Monday Night Football." Between commentating and running the JAG Foundation with his wife, Brian Griese is a busy man. With an estimated net worth of $12 million, it appears his years of hard work have paid off.
