Hroniss Grasu ( ; born August 12, 1991) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

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 for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, and was drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the third round of the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

Early years

A native of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Grasu attended

Crespi Carmelite High School Crespi Carmelite High School, shortly known as Crespi, is a private Catholic all-male four-year college preparatory high school located in Encino District, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The ...

, where he was an All-State offensive lineman. Regarded as a three-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Grasu was ranked as the No. 12 center prospect in his class.

College career

As a freshman, Grasu took over as the starting center for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

and remained the starter through his senior season. He earned All-Freshman Second-team in 2011, as well as All-Pac-12 First-team in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He was named an All-American in 2013 and 2014. He was also a finalist for the

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College F ...

in 2013 and 2014.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Grasu was drafted in the third round by the

with the 71st overall pick of the

. The move reunited him with college teammate

Kyle Long Kyle Howard Long (born December 5, 1988) is an American football guard who is a free agent. The son of Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long and the younger brother of former defensive end Chris Long. He played college football at ...

. On August 30, 2016, Grasu was placed on injured reserve. On September 2, 2018, Grasu was released by the Bears.

Baltimore Ravens

On September 24, 2018, Grasu was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He played in three games before being released on November 24, 2018.

Miami Dolphins

On December 12, 2018, Grasu was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, but was released nine days later.

Tennessee Titans

On February 7, 2019, Grasu was signed by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, reuniting with college teammate

Marcus Mariota Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota (born October 30, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted second overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL Draft. Mariota play ...

. He was released on August 31, 2019. He was re-signed on September 10, 2019. He was released again on October 8, 2019. He was signed once again on October 31, 2019. He was released on December 3, 2019.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On December 4, 2019, Grasu was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Ravens.

San Francisco 49ers

On August 20, 2020, Grasu signed with 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 ...

. He was released on September 5, 2020 and signed to the practice squad the next day. After being elevated to the active roster for the team's first two games, Grasu was promoted to the active roster on September 26, 2020. He was placed on the team's reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 19, 2020, and activated on November 25. He was placed back on the COVID-19 list on December 28, 2020, and activated on January 14, 2021.

Las Vegas Raiders

On October 25, 2021, Grasu was signed to the

practice squad. After the Raiders were eliminated in the 2021 Wild Card round of the playoffs, he signed a reserve/future contract on January 17, 2022. On August 30, 2022, Grasu was waived by the Raiders and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 10.

Personal life

Grasu is of

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

descent. His parents, Ștefan and Mariana Grasu, emigrated from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in 1982, opening the "Greco's New York Pizzeria" on

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

.Grasu's kid brother growing up quickly
/ref> His older brother, Nico, was a placekicker for

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

(2008–10). Grasu means ''The Fat Man'' in Romanian language. Grasu was roommates with Bryan Bennett, Oregon's former backup quarterback and a former teammate of Grasu at Crespi. His selection with the 71st overall pick in the draft by the Bears was portrayed in the season 7 premiere of

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

on FX. Grasu is engaged to

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

guard

Sabrina Ionescu Sabrina Elaine Ionescu (born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. She is the NCAA all- ...

, who is also of Romanian descent.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bioOregon Ducks bioTennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grasu, Hroniss 1991 births Living people American football centers American people of Romanian descent Baltimore Ravens players Chicago Bears players Las Vegas Raiders players Miami Dolphins players Oregon Ducks football players People from Northridge, Los Angeles Players of American football from Los Angeles San Francisco 49ers players Tennessee Titans players Romanian players of American football