Against Illinois in 1899, Griffith returned a punt 85 yards as Iowa won, 58–0, to cap an undefeated season.

After the game, referee R. T. Hoagland of Princeton said, "The dodging run of Griffith down the field for a touchdown was the best piece of individual playing that I ever saw.

The entire team except Griffith ate a bad batch of creamed potatoes and got food poisoning the day before the game.

In 1902, he was hired as head football coach and athletic director at the University of Idaho in Moscow.

When Iowa football coach Alden Knipe retired after the 1902 season, school officials considered hiring Griffith but went with John Chalmers instead.

[10] Griffith died in 1948 at age 68 in Pasadena, California, and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.