Darryl Baris Grant (born November 22, 1959) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who played

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for eleven seasons for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. Grant was drafted by the Redskins in the ninth round of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

. The Redskins decided to turn him into a defensive lineman, even though he played offensive guard in college. After using his 1981 rookie year to adjust to the rigors of playing defensive tackle in the NFL, Grant joined the defensive line rotation starting in 1982.http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=14778 Grant went on to become a fixture on Joe Gibbs' Redskins teams in the 1980s. At times paired alongside other Redskins defensive line standouts such as

Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career from 1 ...

Dexter Manley Dexter Keith Manley (born February 2, 1959) is a former American football defensive end for the Washington Redskins, Phoenix Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He also played in the Canadian Football Lea ...

and Charles Mann, Grant was one of the contributors during a period (his Redskins career 1981–1990) that saw the Redskins make the playoffs six times, including three trips to the Super Bowl (two wins) and four conference championship appearances (three wins).

Career highlights

Grant intercepted a pass and returned it for a ten-yard touchdown in the 1982 NFC Championship game against the Dallas Cowboys, which the Redskins eventually won 31-17. Grant went on to play in 141 games for the Redskins from 1981–90, finishing with 27 sacks and two interceptions. His best season was 1984 when he recorded a career-high eight sacks.

References

External links

"Great Redskins Drafts: A Look At 1981"
1959 births Living people Players of American football from San Antonio American football defensive tackles Rice Owls football players Washington Redskins players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Ed Block Courage Award recipients {{defensive-lineman-1950s-stub