GREEN BAY, Wis. The new assistant football coach reported for work at Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington, N.J., before the 2006 season. Players there knew only the basics in his biography: starred at Don Bosco Prep, played at Notre Dame, spent the 2005 season on the Giants’ practice squad.
So when coaches told players the name of the new assistant Ryan Grant they were met with blank stares.
“I had never really heard of him,” said Eric Torres, a 19-year-old running back.
They watch Grant now on television, starting for the Green Bay Packers, and they tell everyone who will listen, “That’s my coach.” They see him slice through the Seahawks for a Packers playoff-record 201 rushing yards last Saturday, and they think, That’s just the way he taught me.
Like football fans everywhere, they marvel at the improbability of Grant’s rise from college backup to N.F.L. starter, from Giants afterthought to Packers catalyst.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Michael Marafelias, a 17-year-old running back. “Our coach went from a nobody to a star. And now, I can say I know him.”
And to think: Grant, now 25, almost gave up football to concentrate on basketball, then nearly lost the use of his left hand at a Manhattan nightclub.
The folks at Queen of Peace remember the scars. They ran from Grant’s wrist almost to his elbow.
They are the reason he ended up coaching in the first place.
During the off-season in early 2006, someone bumped into Grant at the nightclub. When he wobbled and reached back to brace himself, his left hand went through Champagne glasses resting on the table.
Grant cut an artery, a tendon and the ulnar nerve in his arm. Blood poured out of the wound, requiring emergency surgery. Grant plays down the ordeal now, but he acknowledged Wednesday that doctors were initially unsure if he would regain the use of his left hand.
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