Deon D'Marquis Grant (born March 14, 1979) is a former

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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

who played 12 seasons in 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 ...

. 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 ...

for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, was a member of Tennessee's national championship team and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft, and also played professionally for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

of the NFL. He won a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

with the Giants against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

College career

Grant attended the

, and played for the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

team from 1997 to 2000. He was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in 1999 after he tied for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

lead with nine interceptions for 167 return yards. He finished the 1999 season with 69 tackles and eight pass breakups. He had two picks in three different games and earned SEC Defensive Player of the week after intercepting three passes versus

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. His leaping interception in UT's overtime win over

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1998 was a crucial play in the Vols' march to the BCS National Championship. Grant left Tennessee and declared for the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

following his junior year.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Grant was drafted in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft with the 57th overall pick by the

Jacksonville Jaguars

After playing for four seasons with the Panthers, Grant was sent to the

, where he played for three seasons.

Seattle Seahawks

Grant was picked up in

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

by the

in 2007. He was cut March 15, 2010 mostly because of his large contract. He finished his tenure in Seattle with 224 tackles, eight interceptions, and one fumble recovery.

New York Giants

Grant signed with the

on April 1, 2010. After one season with the Giants, he became an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, however he re-signed with the Giants on August 16, 2011 to a one-year, $4 million contract. He won a Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XLVI. Following the season, he became an unrestricted free agent. On August 7, 2013, Grant retired as a member of the New York Giants.

NFL statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Deon 1979 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Carolina Panthers players Jacksonville Jaguars players New York Giants players Sportspeople from Renton, Washington Players of American football from Augusta, Georgia Seattle Seahawks players Tennessee Volunteers football players