Seahawks' Grant counts blessings

Seahawks' Grant counts blessings
How a Christmas gift changed everything for the kid from Augusta

By CLARE FARNSWORTH
P-I REPORTER

RENTON -- Deon Grant can't recall exactly which Christmas it was, but he certainly remembers the gift.

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His only present was a bicycle, and the face of the Seahawks strong safety radiates joy as he recounts just what the gift of mobility meant to a poor kid forced to move from project to project with his mother, Joyce Wright, and two sisters.

"We rode through every neighborhood," Grant said. "Those that liked us. Those that didn't like us. Those that wanted us. Those that didn't want us."

As the story unfolded, Grant extended his arms as if steering the bike and cocked his head as if the wind was blowing across his shaved head.

"I rode to places my mom told me not to ride," he said.
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Otto Greule Jr. / Getty Images

Grant has traveled a long way from those days. Even with the Seahawks at 4-11 entering Sunday's season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, Grant realizes what a blessed life he is living.

"We were four in a household, and my mom would have only $15 to last us for three to four months," Grant said of his life growing up in Augusta, Ga. "Sometimes we had to go next door to ask for bread.

"It taught me a lot. I taught me to be humble. It taught me to believe in myself, because no one else was going to. It taught me to never give up."

Counting your blessings has been a major talking point for coach Mike Holmgren as he has tried to rally his troops down a stretch that will not lead the Seahawks to the postseason for the first time since 2002.

The message has connected with Grant.

"Big-time blessing," he said. "I count my blessings, and how blessed I am, every second of the day. Every time I talk to somebody about what we're doing, I let them know how blessed I am and how fortunate I am to even have an opportunity to put this uniform on."

A lot of kids grow up dreaming about playing in the NFL. But for Grant, that's exactly what it was -- just a dream.

"Guys from my neighborhood usually didn't get out of the neighborhood, and if they did it wasn't in a good way," he said.

Grant somehow made it, but not without some tribulations.

He was rated the best defensive back in the nation by The Sporting News as a senior at Josey High School in Augusta -- good enough to get a scholarship to Tennessee.

Grant was an All-America selection and SEC defensive player of the year as a junior in 1999, which led to him being a second-round draft choice by the Carolina Panthers in 2000.

But Grant dislocated and fractured his left hip during a seven-on-seven drill in training camp and was told he would not be able to play again.

"It was a scary deal," said Gil Haskell, the Seahawks offensive coordinator who held the same position with the Panthers in 2000. "He had a serious injury. His career was over. That's what they said at the time."

But here he is, playing in his second season with the Seahawks and eighth in the league. Grant played in Super Bowl XXXVIII with the Panthers after the 2002 season. He signed a six-year, $32 million contract with the Seahawks in 2007. He never has missed a game since returning from the hip injury -- a string that will reach 128 consecutive starts on Sunday.

The Seahawks pass defense ranks last in the league, allowing an average of 253.5 yards per game. The Seahawks also have yielded 21 touchdown passes and a league-high 54 pass plays of at least 20 yards.

But secondary coach Jim Mora won't lay all the blame on Grant and free safety Brian Russell, who also was signed in free agency last year.

"As we look at it, and critique them, they've both played more consistent than they did last year," Mora said. "We haven't had as many balls fluttering into the air that they can run under and catch this year as they did last year."

Grant has two of the team's eight interceptions and 70 tackles, according to the unofficial stats. But Mora said his tackle total, as taken from the coaches' game film, is closer to 120.

"They have played more consistently, if not spectacularly," Mora said.

Then there is this from John Fox, Grant's coach in Carolina:

"Deon was an excellent player," Fox said. "He played the game with a lot of energy, has good ball awareness, he's an excellent athlete. He's kind of how you draw them up as a safety."

It's been quite a ride for that kid with the new bike all those Christmases ago.




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