Orantes Laquay Grant (born March 18, 1978) 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 ...

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 ...

in 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) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He was drafted by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. 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 the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Early years

Grant was a three-year starter at

Dunwoody High School Dunwoody High School is a public high school in Dunwoody, an incorporated city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. Dunwoody enrolls students in grades 9- 12, and is operated by the DeKalb County School System. It follows a four by four bl ...

. As a sophomore in 1993, he helped his team win the AAAA state championship 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 ...

. He was switched to

as a senior, receiving All-State honors while making 130 tackles. He also had 78 carries for 570 rushing yards 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 ...

. He was named the DeKalb County Defensive Player of the Year award from the Dunwoody News and was listed in the Top 50 Georgia list by the

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

College career

Grant accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a freshman he was a backup, making 42 tackles (3 for loss) and one pass defensed. As a sophomore in 1997, he was named the starter at

weakside 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 ...

, registering 81 tackles (second on the team), 2.5 sacks, 3 quarterback pressures, 2 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles (led the team). He had 10 tackles against

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

. He made 12 tackles against the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. As a junior in 1998, he posted 125 tackles (led the team), 80 solo tackles (led the team), 2.5 sacks, 5 quarterback pressures, 6 tackles for loss (second on the team), 5 passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He had 22 tackles against the

and 14 against the

. As a senior, his stats suffered because of a change in the defensive scheme. He made 69 tackles (second on the team), 46 solo tackles (led the team), 2 sacks, 3 quarterback pressures and 2 passes defensed. Against

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, he had 13 tackles and one sack. He made 10 tackles against

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. He finished his career with 44 games, 312 tackles (13th in school history), 190 solo tackles (seventh in school history) and 15 sacks.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Grant was selected by the

in the seventh round (219th overall) of the

, reuniting with George Edwards who was his position coach in college. As a rookie, he was deactivated for the first 2 games. He was a backup behind

Dexter Coakley William Dexter Coakley (born October 20, 1972) is a former American football linebacker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was a third round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1997 NFL Draft, out of Division ...

and tied for fourth on the team with 11

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 ...

tackles. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he appeared in 10 games (one start), while missing 3 contests with a torn meniscus and 2 with a ankle injury. He collected 16 defensive tackles (one for loss), one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 8

tackles (tied for fifth on the team). He was released on September 1,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Washington Redskins

On December 4,

, Grant was signed by the

as a

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 ...

. He appeared in one game. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, he appeared in one game and was waived on October 28.

Cleveland Browns

On November 26,

, he signed with the

as a

. He was released on December 3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Orantes 1978 births Living people Players of American football from DeKalb County, Georgia American football linebackers Georgia Bulldogs football players Dallas Cowboys players Washington Redskins players Cleveland Browns players Dunwoody High School alumni