Grant McDonald (born July 14, 1999) is a former

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He previously played for the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He was drafted by the Elks with the 14th overall selection in the 2021 CFL Draft. From 2018 to 2019, he played

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

for the

University of Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

, where he was a

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

champion in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Prior to transferring to Calgary in 2018, he attended and played one season for the University of Maine Black Bears of the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

(CAA) in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

(FCS) in 2017.

Early life & high school career

McDonald began playing football at age 9 for the Delta Rams in his hometown of

Tsawwassen Tsawwassen ( ) is a suburban, mostly residential community on a peninsula in the southwestern corner of the City of Delta in British Columbia, Canada. It provides the only road access to the American territory on the southern tip of the peninsul ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He also played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

growing up. In high school, he attended and played football for the South Delta Secondary School Sun Devils in Tsawwassen. At South Delta, he was a two-way standout player, playing both offense and defense at

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

and linebacker, respectively. He was regarded as one of the most dominant players in the highest level Canadian high school league of the British Columbia Secondary Schools Football Association (BCSSFA) in which he played, according to

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

. In 2014, as a 10th grader, he led South Delta to a division championship, including scoring two touchdowns in title game and being named the AAA Provincial Championship game MVP. In 2015, as a junior linebacker and running back, he led the BCSSFA Division AAA in tackles (103) and yards per carry (9.2), and ranked second in rushing yards (1,217) in 11 games played. He also recorded an interception on defense and scored 16 touchdowns on offensive. In 2016, as a junior, he struggled with an ankle injury, which forced him to miss several games. He returned to the field to help the Sun Devils reach the provincial semifinals. His junior performance earned him 2016 ''Canada Football Chat'' All-Canadians First Team honors. He was honored as the South Delta Secondary Sportsperson of the Year and the 2017 Young Athlete of the Year. As a college football recruit, he was the No. 9 overall high school prospect and No. 1 linebacker in Canada, per ''Canada Football Chat''. He committed to attend and play college football at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

over offers from

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Regina,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Buffalo, and

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

College career

2017 (Maine)

McDonald entered his freshman season for the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice ...

as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

, a new position at which he had never played previously. During the Black Bears’ 2017 season, he appeared in nine games with the majority of his playing time coming on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, where he recorded seven tackles and a forced fumble.

2018 (Calgary)

Following his freshman season at Maine, McDonald transferred to the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

in Alberta, where joined his older brother, Jack, a wide receiver, on the Dinos football team in the Canada West Conference. He has cited to the opportunity to play with Jack as a driving factor in his decision to transfer to Calgary. In 2018, McDonald helped the Dinos achieve an undefeated 8-0 regular season and advance to the Hardy Cup. In his Calgary debut against Regina, he recorded eight tackles and 0.5 tackle for loss. In one of his best performances of the season, he recorded four tackles, two tackles for loss, and two sacks in Calgary's 34–16 win against

. In his first career playoff game, he recorded a team-high nine tackles in the Dino's Canada West semifinal victory over Manitoba. The following week, in the Hardy Cup, he made eight tackles, including seven solo tackles, in Calgary's loss to

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. He finished the 2018 season leading his team in both tackles (54) and solo tackles (38). He also recorded 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble.

2019 (Calgary)

After going 6–2 in the regular season, the Dinos won four playoff games en route to becoming

champions after their victory over the

Montreal Carabins The Montréal Carabins are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Teams play at the CEPSUM Stadium and at l'aréna du CEPSUM, located at the Université de Montréal campus. ...

. On November 2, 2019, McDonald recorded a career-high 13 tackles (12 solo), as well as one tackle for loss and one sack in Calgary's 47–46 victory over Manitoba in the Canada West Playoffs semifinals. The following week, he led his team in tackles (11) for the second consecutive game and again recorded one tackle for loss and one sack in the Dino's 29–4 win over Saskatchewan to earn the Hardy Cup title and advance to the

Mitchell Bowl The Mitchell Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the more westerly location of the two semifinal venues. The winner of this game ...

. He made seven tackles (six solo) and scored the Dino's lone second half touchdown on a 2-yard reception in Calgary's 30–17 victory over McMaster in the

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

Mitchell Bowl, earning defensive MVP and helping the Dinos advance to the 55th Vanier Cup championship game against Montreal. In the Vanier Cup, he led the Dinos with 11 tackles (five solo), as well as a pass breakup, in Calgary's 27–13 victory over Montreal. The win earned Calgary its fifth ever Vanier Cup title and its first since 1995. He finished the 2019 season as the Dinos’ leading tackler by a wide margin with 88 tackles, including 65 solo tackles, (second-highest Calgary tackler registered 52 tackles) and tied for the team lead in both tackles for loss (8) and sacks (4.5). McDonald did not play football in 2020 after the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He finished his collegiate career with 149 tackles (109 solo), 14.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and one interception. He was invited to the 2021

College Gridiron Showcase The College Gridiron Showcase (CGS) is an independently operated annual post-season college football event hosted each January in Fort Worth, Texas. The event consists of NFL draft prospects who have completed their eligibility in NCAA Division ...

held in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

in January 2021.

College statistics

Professional career

Edmonton Elks

McDonald was the No. 13 draft prospect entering the 2021 CFL Draft, per 3DownNation. In the draft, the

selected him with the 14th overall (Round 2, Pick 5) pick. As a rookie, he appeared in 14 games for the Elks. In his professional football and CFL debut, he registered his best game of his rookie campaign, making four tackles on special teams against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

. As a rookie, he made 16 special teams tackles on the season and led the Elks in special teams tackles.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On May 2, 2022, McDonald was traded to the

along with Kyle Saxelid and the second overall selection in the 2022 CFL Global Draft in exchange for the eighth and 28th overall selections in the 2022 CFL National Draft and the ninth overall selection in the 2022 CFL Global Draft. He played in all 18 regular season games during the 2022 season and contributed with eight special teams tackles. After two seasons of professional football McDonald announced his retirement with the intention of pursuing a career as a fire fighter in his home province of British Columbia.

Professional statistics

Personal life

McDonald's father, Bruce, played CIAU football at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, where he was a starting

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for five seasons, and was also drafted in the CFL. McDonald's younger brother, Ben, enrolled at the

in 2020, where he is now a

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 ...

on the Dinos football team. At Calgary, he majored in

Arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

References

External links

Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio

Calgary Dinos bio

Maine Black Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Grant 1999 births Living people Players of Canadian football from British Columbia Maine Black Bears football players Calgary Dinos football players Canadian football linebackers American football linebackers Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players