Shaquem Griffin, who had his left hand amputated as a youngster, was picked by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
At the scouting combine in March in Indianapolis, he stunned onlookers by bench-pressing 225 pounds a staggering 20 times with a prosthetic left hand and then covered the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds.
An emotional Griffin said: "That was the phone call I was waiting for my entire life.
"I literally broke down after that. I couldn't breathe. I didn't know how to talk, I mean, I was just lost for words."
Shaquill Griffin, who was born one minute before his twin, was also overjoyed, revealing he played a role in bringing his brother to Seattle.
"I made sure I kept his name fresh in that building," said Shaquill, who started 11 games for Seattle in 2017.
"So every day I made sure to mention my brother about something, even was just, 'hey, man, my brother got a good workout in, his backpedal is looking smooth every day.'
"And they continued throughout this whole process to let me know how much they loved my brother, how much they loved my family.
"I'm glad they made this happen," Shaquill added. "It's a dream come true, not just being drafted, but being with my family and bringing my brother back home."
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll heaped praise on the 22-year-old, saying he can play a big role for the side.
"He will be a big factor in special teams. We are going to try to put him in spots where we can utilize the great speed he has. He is as fast as you can get as a linebacker," Carroll said.
"He is an extraordinary young man. He is an explosive, talented guy and he backs it up."
The linebacker was a star at Central Florida despite playing with just one hand, becoming the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year in 2016 and the MVP of UCF's Peach Bowl victory against Auburn last season when UCF went 13-0.
Griffin said before the Draft: "I want to show the entire world, no matter [if you have] one hand, two hands, if you're a ball player, you just play ball."
Griffin will be reunited with his brother Shaquill, who was a third-round pick of the Seahawks in 2017 and became a starter in his rookie season.
The brothers played together throughout their youth and at Central Florida before Shaquill entered the NFL.
Griffin was a safety in high school before moving to outside linebacker at UCF when new coach Scott Frost arrived.
He collected 33.5 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks the past two seasons and was named the conference defensive player of the year [2016] while earning first-team All-AAC recognition in each of the past two seasons.