One of the reasons the Giants signed Deon Grant is the leadership he’s provided for every team he’s been on. Grant, entering his 11th NFL season, came into this year with an impressive string of 144 consecutive starts and, with Kenny Phillips coming back slowly from knee surgery, Grant figured that starting streak would continue for at least a short while.
It didn’t happen, as this past Wednesday Phillips was told to line up with the first-team defense, moving Grant to the second-team. It was a decision that surprised and disappointed Grant, who considers himself a starter and declared that he and everyone else knows he’s not a backup.
With that, Grant promised to be a professional and do his job without complaint. His starting streak came to an end in Sunday’s 31-18 victory over the Panthers but, as expected, he was on the field plenty, as the Giants used three safeties in many packages. Grant in his Giants debut played well, even if it was in an unaccustomed and unwanted reserve role.
“I’m not going to go out there because I might be upset and disappointed and not give 110 percent,” Grant said. “That’s just my mentality on Sundays. I’m a professional. I knew the game-plan beforehand, I knew I was going to be playing a lot but my mentality was trained one way for 10 years, and that’s to be going out there with the first team defense, the first play and trying to make something happen. It’s just something I have to adjust to and make sure it works.”
Grant made an early impression with an interception that might stand as the most acrobatic the Giants will come up with all season. Three plays after a deflected Eli Manning pass was intercepted and two plays after DeAngelo Williams ran 29 yards to the Giants 20-yard line Grant turned the Panthers away. Matt Moore looked into the end zone, lobbing the ball to tight end Gary Barnidge. The pass was underthrown and Grant stepped in front for a leaping interception, a grab that turned out to be the easy part of the play. Grant’s momentum carried him forward and he did a full frontward somersault in the end zone, somehow holding onto the ball as he completed the maneuver.
“It’s funny because we were doing back flips in practice the other day,” Grant said. “We snuck in and did them, Antrel [Rolle] and myself, we were talking about the front flip and I think I was the only one who said I could do it. They thought I was lying. I didn’t try to do that one though. I might have missed my calling. I should have been a gymnast or something.”
