macbob
  • macbob
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14 years ago
http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/corp/page/07%2F12%2F11_Grant_won%27t_give_up_job_without_fight/18?feed=2 

GREEN BAY – Ryan Grant understands why some people believe his job as the Green Bay Packers’ starting running back is in jeopardy. But the fifth-year back fully expects to prove those folks wrong.

“That’s natural. Of course, when guys come back from injury, when guys get injured – especially for as long as I was injured for – that’s a natural tendency (to think that),” Grant said during a visit to Green and Gold Today on ESPNMilwaukee.com and ESPNMadison.com Tuesday morning. “Somebody steps in, they do well, we win the Super Bowl.

“It’s funny, three-quarters (of the way) into the year, they were talking about, ‘They miss me, they miss me, they miss me,’ and then you hear different things. But that’s OK. I’m all right with all that. That’s been (the story of) my career, and it’s all just motivation to keep working hard and helping this team win.”

Grant, who turns 29 on Dec. 9 and is entering the final year of his contract, suffered a season-ending right ankle injury in the Packers’ Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Philadelphia and was placed on injured reserve two days later, missing the team’s run to the Super Bowl XLV title.

After back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons – 1,253 yards and 11 touchdowns (4.4-yard average) in 2009, 1,203 yards and four TDs (3.9-yard average) in 2008 – Grant had eight carries for 45 yards, including runs of 13, 8 and 18 yards on his final three carries, against the Eagles before sustaining a fractured tibia and rupturing the syndesmotic ligament in his ankle. The injury required a screw to be surgically inserted into his ankle, and while Grant believed he could have returned late in the season just as Dorsey Levens had done after virtually the same injury early in the 1998 season, the club opted to place him on season-ending injured reserve instead.

Without him, the Packers’ running game languished until rookie sixth-round pick James Starks was activated from the physically unable to perform list. Starks then rushed for 73 yards in his NFL debut against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 5, then ran for 123 yards in an NFC Wild Card victory at Philadelphia before rushing for 74 yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game at Chicago.

At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in February, coach Mike McCarthy was openly giddy about Starks’ potential.

“I think James Starks has a tremendous future in Green Bay. You could see the talent the first day he arrived,” McCarthy said at the time. “It was a very unusual situation with his medical history coming out of college, not being able to play because he was on PUP. I think everybody got a clean look at what he’s able to do in the playoffs. (With) the opportunity to go through training camp and have a full year of training under his belt, he definitely has big days ahead of him.”

Grant said Tuesday he heard nothing from former running backs coach Edgar Bennett, new running backs coach Jerry Fontenot or McCarthy before the lockout – or during the brief lifting of the lockout in April – that would indicate he’s not in the Packers’ plans for next season.

“I’ve been told I’m still the leader of that squad and nothing’s going to change. There’s going to be competition for carries, and that’s fine. I’m OK with that,” Grant said. “That’s the nature of this position, that’s the nature of what we do. That would literally not be smart for the team if we didn’t compete for carries and everything.

“I do feel like what I bring to the table is something different than the other guys, and I know my work ethic, so I don’t really worry about that stuff. How I work has nothing to do with anybody else. How I perform has nothing to do with anybody else. And I want to win. So whatever does happen, as long as it’s in the best interests of the team, I’m all for it.”

Then there’s Grant’s contract situation. He’ll carry a $5.65 million salary cap figure into the 2011 season, a number that includes a $3.5 million base salary and a roster bonus of $1.75 million, with $1 million of it due on the 15th day of the new league year, whenever the lockout ends. Grant’s deal also calls for performance incentives that could earn him another $1 million.

Asked if he’s been given any indication that the team won’t pay the roster bonus or that he won’t be back, Grant replied, “No, no, no, I’ve never been given any indication. None at all. I don’t know where that came from. But, who knows? That’s stuff I don’t even think about.”

Meanwhile, Grant is simply looking forward to training camp starting on time on July 30 so he can get back to football.

“I’m definitely excited and looking forward to whenever this thing does get settled,” said Grant, who has been working out with former New York Giants teammates in New York during the offseason. “Whenever it does get (resolved), we’ll come back to work.

“If there does happen to be complacency (after winning the Super Bowl), our situation is a little different from other teams. That probably is something that comes along with every championship team – the complacency for the year after. But we fortunately, or unfortunately, have some many guys in pivotal positions that got hurt that are going to keep the team hungry and push the team if there does become any complacency. The guys coming back are just going to help and motivate us even more because we want to be right back in the mix and get that (championship) next year.”

Grant was in the greater Milwaukee area over the weekend for his “Ryan4Ryan event Sunday at Cool Waters Park in Greenfield, a fundraiser to establish a scholarship fund for Wilmot High School Students in memory of Ryan Luxem, a boy Grant befriended last year. Luxem died of leukemia in December. (For more information on how to contribute to the fund, click here.)

“It went awesome. We had over 1,000 people show up, which is great (given that we were) competing with Summerfest and the Brewers,” said Grant, who was joined by teammates Tom Crabtree and Frank Zombo at the event. “A lot of kids were out there having fun. It was a huge success for my thoughts. A lot of people came up to me and told me they had fun and appreciated what we were doing. It was a celebration of Ryan’s life, to keep his spirit alive and raise money for the scholarship fund. It ended up being a great day.”

ESPN540Milwaukee wrote:

nerdmann
14 years ago
I don't think anyone's disputing that Grant will "fight" for the starting gig. LOL. Honestly, Grant did look very good in that opening game last year. He still wasn't getting around the corner, but he was squirming through the pile at the line of scrimmage and getting yards. Makes me kind of wonder if he developed beyond his tendency to run up the backs of his Olinemen earlier in his career. Still, that contract that he used the Favre "comeback" situation to squeeze out of Ted Thompson looks like it could come back to bite him.
Remember, his junior year, Starks was rated the #2 RB in the country, behind only CJ Spiller.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
14 years ago
Grant isn't going to just rollover and give up his position on the team as the #1 back.

*Sigh.* I wish the lockout would end soon so we can get some real news. I mean what kind of a professional player would be be if he quit without even trying? But the papers have nothing to talk about so they keep on digging looking for something to entertain us with. Please end the madness soon. *Sigh.*


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Tezzy
14 years ago
These are good things to have for a team defending their Championship. Motivation and drive can be hard to attain after winning a Championship. But yes, end the madness yesterday already.
On top of every beard grows a man.
"The Bears are shell-shocked... and it's breaking my heart."
Zero2Cool
14 years ago
I know this is over played, over hyped, but the Packers have what I think is a lot of high character players. I really like what Ryan Grant is saying and doing off the field. It's refreshing to read quotes from a veteran accepting and understanding that the team has to do what's best for the team and that he's fine with competing with the younger guy for playing time. It's far better than hitting up an interview on national TV and whine about the GM not doing what you request.


Edit, here's something else I just read.

The Packers managed to finish 2010 just fine, even though they lost Ryan Grant to injury after one game. Green Bay obviously weathered his loss without much problem, especially given rookie RB James Starks' playoff emergence. Still, Grant, who rushed for 2,456 yards from 2008-09, thinks he'll move back atop the depth chart when the lockout ends. "From what I've heard, that's the conversation that was told to me," Grant told WSSP in Milwaukee. "I was told that by (former RBs coach Edgar Bennett), initially. Jerry (Fontenot, who took over for Bennett) didn't tell me that anything changed. Jerry told me that as of right now I'm still the leader of the backfield." ... However Grant said getting another ring trumps any personal aspirations he has to remain the starter, and he'd back up Starks if asked.

USA Today

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/295910-rb-controversy-in-green-bay?eref=sihp&sct=hp_bf2_a6#ixzz1RzbVIxzF 


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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
14 years ago

I know this is over played, over hyped, but the Packers have what I think is a lot of high character players. I really like what Ryan Grant is saying and doing off the field. It's refreshing to read quotes from a veteran accepting and understanding that the team has to do what's best for the team and that he's fine with competing with the younger guy for playing time. It's far better than hitting up an interview on national TV and whine about the GM not doing what you request.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 




no argument here. I like Grant. I think he is a class act like so many other players on the team.
I guess I want "real" Packers news and not idle talk while we sit around and wait. It is difficult most years at this time of the year, waiting for TC to open. Even more so this year.
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zombieslayer
14 years ago
I like Grant as well. He has consistently been one of the top 10 RBs in the NFL and doesn't get the love he deserves from Packers fans. Yes, he's a boring runner. But quite effective.

The biggest advantage Grant has over Starks is Grant doesn't get caught from behind. Starks is better at breaking tackles over the middle though.

We could use both types of runners.
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DakotaT
14 years ago
It's a two back per team league now, well except for the Vikings. A couple more years and Adrian will be toast.

There's really more being made of this than it actually is. Give me Grant's 1200 yards every year and I'm happy. My knock on Grant is that he does go down too easy.
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Nonstopdrivel
14 years ago

My knock on Grant is that he does go down too easy.

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 



Ah, that is most definitely what she said. :-"
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Zero2Cool
14 years ago

I like Grant as well. He has consistently been one of the top 10 RBs in the NFL and doesn't get the love he deserves from Packers fans. Yes, he's a boring runner. But quite effective.

The biggest advantage Grant has over Starks is Grant doesn't get caught from behind. Starks is better at breaking tackles over the middle though.

We could use both types of runners.

Originally Posted by: zombieslayer 



I've played several games with James Starks in Madden and he never got caught from behind!!!

Okay, seriously, I know what you're saying, but I wonder how many times he's broken one and he was caught from behind? I don't recall any, not saying there wasn't, just haven't seen any. I could see how he'd be caught from behind because I think he kind of runs bow-legged... if that makes sense. It's almost like he's stomping down hard, rather than being fleet of foot.
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