Grayland Arnold Jr. (born September 4, 1997) 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 ...

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

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 ...

at Baylor.

Early life and high school

Arnold attended Kountze High School. On the basketball court, he was a two-time All-State selection, District 23-3A Most Valuable Player and named of the top 15 basketball players in Texas. During his freshman year, former NFL player

Frank Middleton Frank Middleton Jr. (born October 25, 1974) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the NFL during the 1990s and early 2000s. Middleton played college football for the Fort ...

, who was an assistant coach, convinced him to join the football team. Arnold ended up becoming an All-State selection at cornerback, in addition to earning District Offensive MVP honors as a quarterback and wide receiver. He was a three-star prospect and committed to Baylor.

College career

Arnold had nine tackles in a win against Boise State in the 2016 Cactus Bowl. As a freshman at Baylor in 2016, Arnold started four of 11 games and tallied 20 tackles and four pass breakups. His sophomore season was hampered due to a broken arm which forced him to miss several games. He finished the season with 35 tackles, seven pass break ups and an interception. As a junior in 2018, Arnold also suffered an ankle injury which ended the season after four games, forcing him to redshirt. He was named

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

Special Teams player of the week in week two of the 2019 season. In 2019, Arnold ranked second in the Big 12 with six interceptions, and also recorded 46 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and two pass breakups. He also averaged 12.4 yards on punt returns with one touchdown. Arnold was named to the Second-team All-Big 12. Following the season, he announced he was forgoing his redshirt senior season and entering the NFL draft. In his career, Arnold had 107 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss and seven interceptions. He was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

in the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

, Arnold signed an 3 year deal with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

on April 26, 2020. He was named the Eagles' best undrafted free agent by

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, with scouts praising his versatility. He was waived on September 3, 2020, and re-signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

three days later. Arnold was elevated to the active roster on September 26 for the team's week 3 game against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He made his debut in the game, playing 12 snaps on special teams, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was elevated again on October 3 for the week 4 game against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, and reverted to the practice squad again following the game. Arnold was promoted to the active roster on October 10, 2020. He was waived on October 13 and re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was promoted to the active roster on December 1, 2020. On August 31, 2021, Arnold was waived by the Eagles and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on September 3.

Houston Texans

On September 15, 2021, Arnold was signed to the

practice squad. On December 11, Arnold was elevated to the active roster from the practice squad and made his debut against the

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 ...

. He was signed to the active roster on December 23. On December 29, Arnold signed a contract extension with the Texans that runs through the 2022 season. On January 3, 2022, Arnold was placed on injured reserve after suffering an ankle injury in the team's week 16 game against the

. On August 30, 2022, Arnold was waived by the Texans and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 1. He was placed on injured reserve on November 3. He was activated on December 23.

Personal life

Arnold's older sister Gabriell Mattox played college basketball at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioBaylor Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Grayland 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Texas American football cornerbacks Baylor Bears football players Houston Texans players People from Kountze, Texas Philadelphia Eagles players