Kevin Grady
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Kevin Lee Grady, Jr. (born June 24, 1986) 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 with ...
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 ...
. He completed his athletic eligibility for the
Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...
team during the
2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
. He began his Michigan career as a tailback, but was converted to fullback. He has also played for the
Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joined ...
of the
Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
. In high school, he led his team to consecutive
Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...
Championships. Along the way, he established numerous
Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...
career football rushing records while playing for
East Grand Rapids High School East Grand Rapids High School is a public secondary school located in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9–12 for the East Grand Rapids Public Schools. Athletics The EGRHS Pioneers compete in the Ottawa-Kent Conference ...
, many of which still stand. He was also widely regarded as the best junior class high school football player in the nation during the 2003
high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
season. At the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, he became the school's first athlete to graduate high school a semester early in order to participate in Spring football practice. He was Mike Hart's backup at tailback during his first two years at Michigan. He missed his third year due to injury and returned to play fullback during his final two years of eligibility.


High school career

Grady was born in
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. During
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, Grady was a four-year varsity starter at
East Grand Rapids High School East Grand Rapids High School is a public secondary school located in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9–12 for the East Grand Rapids Public Schools. Athletics The EGRHS Pioneers compete in the Ottawa-Kent Conference ...
. There he earned many honors and achievements, including being named All-State and the title of EA Sports junior player of the year.http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=946950
/ref> He led East Grand Rapids to consecutive state Division 3 football championships. He was one of the top high school running backs in the nation in high school on par with
Jonathan Stewart Jonathan Creon Stewart (born March 21, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. H ...
,
Rashard Mendenhall Rashard Jamal Mendenhall (born June 19, 1987) is a former American football running back and current television writer who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football at Illinois and was drafted by th ...
,
Marlon Lucky Marlon Lucky (born February 28, 1986) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Nebraska. Early years Lucky lived in Dallas, Texas throu ...
,
Antone Smith Antone Smith (born September 17, 1985) is a former American football running back. He played high school football for Pahokee. Smith was considered an All American 5 star running back and was named Mr.Florida. He went on to play college footbal ...
and
Jamaal Charles Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles (born December 27, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Texas, where he won the 2006 Rose Bowl, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third ro ...
. He was a 5-star blue chip recruit ranked among the top 5 running backs in the nation according to both
Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...
and
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 ...
. He holds the following
Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...
records: *Most career rushing yards (8,431) *Most career
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
s (151) *Most career points (924) *Most career rushing attempts (1,154) He formerly held the following record: *Most consecutive games with 100 yards rushing (24) Grady did not consider any other schools en route to signing with Michigan.


College career

Although football players had been enrolling early at
Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...
(BCS) programs for several years, Grady was the first University of Michigan football player to do so. In subsequent years several other players followed his lead, including
Justin Boren Justin Matthew Boren (born April 28, 1988) is a former American football guard. Though a guard in the NFL, Boren played both guard and center during his high school and college football career. In high school, he was widely regarded as one of t ...
and Carlos Brown the following year. By graduating high school early, he was able to attend the
2005 Rose Bowl The 2005 Rose Bowl Game was the 91st edition of the college football bowl game, held on January 1, 2005 at the self-named stadium in Pasadena, California. The Texas Longhorns, second-place finishers in the Big 12 Conference's South Division, def ...
and participate in 2005 Spring football practice.


Freshman year (2005)

As a freshman in 2005, Grady rushed 121 times for 483 yards and five touchdowns as a backup and injury replacement for starter Mike Hart, who only played in eight games due to injuries. Grady also caught 14 passes for 113 yards receiving. One of his touchdowns gave Michigan an 18–12 lead in the third quarter of the
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 ...
game. In the end Grady made two starts at tailback, and was one of only six freshman to have played for the
2005 Michigan Wolverines football team The 2005 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Lloyd Carr. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium. That year Michigan ...
.


Sophomore year (2006)

Based on his performance during 2006 spring practice, Grady received the John F. Maulbetsch Award. In
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, he entered the season as Hart's primary backup, ahead of senior Jerome Jackson, freshmen Brandon Minor, and Carlos Brown on the depth chart. On opening day, Grady's five carries were second on the team, but some questioned why his total was so low. As the season progressed, he remained second on the depth chart, seeing limited playing time due to injuries as well as starter Mike Hart being healthy and starting all thirteen games. Grady rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 55 carries and added one reception for eight yards. His net rushing
yards from scrimmage Yards from scrimmage is a gridiron football statistical measure. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing the football towards the opposing team's goal line. Progress can be made during play by the offensive team by advancing t ...
ranked fourth on the
2006 Michigan Wolverines football team The 2006 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head football coach was Lloyd Carr. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium. The W ...
.


Junior year (2007)

Prior to spring football practice in 2007, Grady switched his jersey number from 3 to 24, his high school number and the day on which he was born. Later that year he was converted to fullback. During a scrimmage in early April, Grady tore his
anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...
. On April 16, 2007, he had surgery. He would miss the entire 2007 season recovering from his injuries; by making use of a
redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...
year, however, he was able to not use up a year of eligibility.


Junior (redshirt) year (2008)

In 2008,
Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. Rodriguez previously was the head football coach at Salem Uni ...
replaced
Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolverines compiled a record ...
as
head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
. During spring football, Grady was still recovering from injuries. In July 2008, Grady was pulled over while driving in
Wyoming, Michigan Wyoming is a city in Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 76,501 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Wyoming is the second most-populated community in the Grand Rapids metropolitan area ...
with a
blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For exampl ...
of .281, more than three times the state's legal limit. He originally pleaded not guilty. Grady began the 2008 season on suspension from the 2008 Wolverines, while Brown, Minor and freshmen Michael Shaw and Sam McGuffie fought for time. During the season, Grady pleaded guilty to
misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...
drunken driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...
. In early August, it appeared that juniors Brown and Minor would vie for the starting job because of Grady's suspension. With both Brown and Minor nursing injuries, Sam McGuffie was tentatively penciled into the starting position on the depth chart. In the end, Grady only accumulated 33 yards rushing for the season.


Senior (redshirt) year (2009)

In the spring of 2009, Grady was accused by court officials of not adhering to his probation reporting requirements and not meeting the 24 hours of community service requirement of his probation, among other violations. As a result, he was jailed for seven days in May 2009. Kevin's brother, Kelvin Grady, was a
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...
on the
Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nation ...
team before transferring to the Michigan football team after the 2008–09 season. On October 17, 2009, the two became the first pair of brothers to score a touchdown in the same game for Michigan as far as could be told by the school's record books. Over the course of the season, Kevin started three games at fullback for the 2009 Wolverines. He compiled 80 yards rushing on 10 carries bringing his career total to 783 yards on 200 carries and 10 touchdowns. He also made 5 receptions bringing his career total to 20 for 150 yards. Grady was not selected in the
2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...
and was not an immediate
undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
.


Personal

On November 26, 2010, Grady was arrested and charged again for
driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
after recording a .3
blood-alcohol level Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...
on a
breathalyzer A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser'') is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC), or to detect viruses or diseases from a breath sample. The name is a genericized trademark of the Br ...
test. He is required to attend
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
meetings three times a week. On December 31, 2010, the
Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
announced that the
Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joined ...
had signed Grady. On May 11, 2011, four days after scoring six touchdowns for the Slaughter, Grady was sentenced to twenty days in jail for his November drunk driving offense. The sentence included two years of probation, 80 hours of community service, random drug tests, confinement to the state of Michigan until given leave by the judge, and 180 days of car immobilization. In addition, the sentence resulted in him being dropped from the Slaughter.


References


External links


Kevin Grady iCRUNCHTIME BlogProfile
at
ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

Grady
at
NCAA.org The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grady, Kevin 1986 births American football running backs Living people Michigan Wolverines football players Chicago Slaughter players Players of American football from Grand Rapids, Michigan