Grant Gunnell (born November 24, 1999) is an

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Sam Houston Bearkats The Sam Houston Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white. Sam Houston sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (Foot ...

. Gunnell started his college career at Arizona in 2019 before transferring to Memphis in 2021, then transferring to North Texas in 2022, and transferring to Sam Houston in 2023.

Early years

Originally playing at College Park High School in

The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with por ...

as a freshman, Gunnell transferred to St. Pius X High School in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

as a sophomore, where his older brother Nelson Gunnell was playing quarterback. During his career at St Pius, Grant actually surpassed his older brother on the depth chart and set the Texas high school records for passing touchdowns (195) and passing yards (16,108). Grant was a USA Today All American, second team his senior year. He was a MaxPreps Junior All American, MaxPreps Sophomore All American, MaxPreps Sophomore Co-Player of the Year, and was a MaxPreps Freshman All American. Additionally, Grant played in the US Army All American Bowl and was a finalist for Player of the Year. Within the state of Texas, he was a first-team all-state selection as a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. A four-star recruit, Gunnell was Texas's top QB prospect and received 42 college scholarship offers, including from powerhouses like

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Notre Dame,

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, to name a few. Gunnell originally committed early on to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

before recommitting to

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, where his brother was playing wide receiver, but recommitted again later into his senior year to the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, to play college football under

Kevin Sumlin Kevin Warren Sumlin (born August 3, 1964) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). Sumlin served as the head football coach at the University of ...

College career

Arizona

Gunnell entered his freshman season at Arizona in 2019 as a backup to

Khalil Tate Khalil Tate (born October 23, 1998) is an American gridiron football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing quarterback at the Univers ...

. He made his first career start in a game against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, throwing for 352 yards and a touchdown. Overall he played in eight games with three starts and completed 101 of 155 passes for 1,239 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception. However, Gunnell was also the starting quarterback during Arizona's 2020 winless season, which included their historic loss to in-state rival

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

70-7. Following the game, Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin was fired, and Gunnell announced on social media that he would be transferring from Arizona to Memphis.

Memphis

After transferring to the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

for the 2021 season, Gunnell saw no playing time after receiving surgery on his right leg. Following the season, Gunnell reportedly played "incredibly well" in the spring scrimmage, but ultimately transferred to North Texas.

North Texas

Gunnell transferred to

North Texas University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

to begin play for the

North Texas Mean Green North Texas Mean Green (formerly North Texas Eagles) represents the University of North Texas (UNT) in intercollegiate athletics. The teams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). North Texas competed in th ...

in 2022. The backup to

Austin Aune Austin Palmer Aune ( ; born September 6, 1993) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He is a former baseball player who was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 2012 MLB draft. He played six seasons in the ...

, Gunnell only saw playing time in two games, throwing a touchdown and an interception on 75 passing yards against

Texas Southern Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

Sam Houston

Gunnell transferred to

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

to play for the

in 2023.

Statistics

References

External links

Arizona Wildcats bioMemphis Tigers bioNorth Texas Mean Green bioSam Houston Bearkats bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunnell, Grant 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from The Woodlands, Texas American football quarterbacks Arizona Wildcats football players Memphis Tigers football players North Texas Mean Green football players Sam Houston Bearkats football players Players of American football from Harris County, Texas