Grant Michael Irons (born July 7, 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 wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played in 43 career games for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, making 26 starts at numerous positions on defense. He started playing for the Buffalo Bills in 2002. His father

Gerald Irons Gerald D. Irons Sr. (May 2, 1947 – April 1, 2021) was an American professional football player who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). His youngest son Grant Irons played for the Oakland Raiders. Eldest son Gerald, Jr. pl ...

also played for the Raiders. He is the cousin of Paul Irons, cousin once removed of

Kenny Irons Kenny Irons (born September 15, 1983) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn. He is the brother of former Atlanta ...

and

David Irons David Irons Jr. (born October 9, 1982) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn. Irons also played for the Florida Tuskers ...

and the brother of

Jarrett Irons Jarrett Irons is a former American football player. A native of The Woodlands, Texas, Irons played college football as a linebacker at the University of Michigan from 1993 to 1996. He was a team co-captain of the 1995 and 1996 teams and was s ...

. He was awarded the Dial Award for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1996. He was also the best teammate and cheerleader on every team he played on. He had 3.5 sacks over 5 seasons for an average of a whopping .7 sacks per year on a 16 game season as a backup defensive end. He had one sack during his 4 year career with the Oakland Raiders at back up defensive end. The picture to the right was during warm ups of a preseason game in 2006. He took a picture with Warren Buffett while a business student at Notre Dame and they became friends.

Notes

1979 births Living people People from Middleburg Heights, Ohio African-American players of American football American football defensive linemen Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Oakland Raiders players Buffalo Bills players Players of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Texas People from The Woodlands, Texas Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Irons family (American football) {{linebacker-1970s-stub