Antonio Grier Jr. (born January 18, 2000) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, a n ...

and

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

by the Buccaneers in 2024.

Early life

Grier was born on January 18, 2000, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He attended Benjamin Elijah Mays High School in Atlanta, playing three seasons of football team while recording 214

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, 19.0

tackles-for-loss The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

(TFLs), six sacks, eight forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

s and three

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s. He was honorable mention All-Class 6A as a junior and was named the regional defensive player of the year as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

. He signed to play

for the

in 2018.

College career

As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at South Florida in 2018, Grier appeared in 12 games, posting eight tackles and a fumble recovery. In 2019, he appeared in all 12 games, six as a starter, and made 58 tackles, 8.5 TFLs and 4.0 sacks. The following year, he earned second-team All-

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(AAC) honors after posting 59 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and 3.0 sacks in eight games. In 2021, he started 12 games and posted a team-leading 92 tackles with eight TFLs, three sacks and two interceptions, repeating as a second-team All-AAC selection. Grier played in the first three games of the 2022 season, recording 21 tackles, before suffering a season-ending hand injury and choosing to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

. Grier opted to transfer following the 2022 season, signing to play with the

for his final year of college football. On his first play with Arkansas, he intercepted a pass and returned it for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. Playing as the third

for Arkansas, he finished seventh on the team with 36 tackles in his lone year as a Razorback. He declared for the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

Professional career

After going unselected in the

, Grier signed with the

as an

. He was waived on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the following day. He was signed to the active roster off the practice squad on October 1. He was waived on November 22, and re-signed to the practice squad. On December 7, Grier was promoted to the active roster. On December 31, the Buccaneers re-signed Grier to their practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 14, 2025.

References

External links

South Florida Bulls bioArkansas Razorbacks bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grier, Antonio 2000 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football linebackers South Florida Bulls football players Arkansas Razorbacks football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players