Garrett Bradley Grayson (born May 29, 1991) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in 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

Colorado State Rams The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and s ...

. He was selected by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

in the third round of the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

. Grayson never played in a regular season NFL game.

Early life

Grayson attended Heritage High School in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

, where he was a three-sport standout in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track. In football, he was a three-year starting

and three-year letterwinner, also played

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, and served two seasons as a team captain. He guided the Timberwolves to three straight Class 4A playoff berths and a GSHL championship in 2008. He broke most of Washington's Class 4A state passing records, and had the nation's highest completion percentage as a senior (73.2 percent), topping over 10,000 yards in total offense during his career. He garnered consecutive Greater St. Helens League MVP honors, in 2008 and 2009. Also a standout track & field athlete, Grayson lettered all four years competing in sprinting, hurdling, jumping and relays events. His personal records include 110 hurdles (15.20 s) and 300 hurdles (40.57 s) In sprints, he ran the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

in 11.03 seconds and the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

in 24.00 seconds. In addition, he also clocked a 4.6-second

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

, bench-pressed 290 pounds, squatted 430 and had a 38-inch

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

. Grayson was ranked by '' Rivals.com'' as a three-star recruit and the 22nd best

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback is a quarterback (QB) who is adept at both passing and running with the ball. With the rise of several blitz-heavy defensive schemes and faster defensive players, the importance of a mobile quarter ...

in his class. He was ranked the No. 17 overall prospect from the state of Washington. He chose to attend Colorado State over scholarship offers from Miami (OH),

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

, and Idaho State.

College career

2011 season

As a

true freshman 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 ...

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

in 2011, Grayson started three of four games he played in, going 0-3. He completed 43 of his 77 pass attempts for 542 yards, two

touchdowns 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 ...

, and six

interceptions In ball-playing 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 a player of the same team bu ...

. Among those games, he threw for 3 interceptions in a loss vs Wyoming.

2012 season

Grayson entered his sophomore season in 2012 as the starter. His lone win as a starter came in the team's season opener against in-state rival Colorado, in which CSU won 22-17, but they lost to FCS team North Dakota State. He was injured in the team's fifth game in a loss at

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, in which he suffered a broken collarbone. He appeared in only one game as a backup after that. Overall, he appeared in six games, going 78 of 138 for 946 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

2013 season

Grayson started all 14 games as a junior in 2013. He finished the year with a school record 3,696 passing yards. He also had 23 touchdowns. In an unremarkable game at Utah State, Grayson threw 2 interceptions as the Rams were shut out 13-0. The Rams played in the New Mexico Bowl that year against Washington State, where CSU won 48-45, while storming back from 35-13 and 45-30 down, to kick a walk off 41 yard field goal.

2014 season

Grayson returned as a starter in 2014. In game 7 against Utah State, Grayson passed

Kelly Stouffer Kelly Wayne Stouffer (born July 6, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado State Rams. Stouffer was selected in the firs ...

to become Colorado State's all-time passing yards leader.In addition, his 4,006 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns that year are the highest in Colorado State history.He was also chosen to play in the 2015 Senior Bowl for that year.

Statistics

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

The

drafted Grayson in the third round, 75th overall, in the

. He did not appear in a game for the Saints during his rookie year. On September 7, 2016, Grayson was released by the Saints and was 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 ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Saints on January 2, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Atlanta Falcons

On October 17, 2017, Grayson was signed to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

' practice squad. He was released on November 8, 2017, but was re-signed six days later. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Falcons on January 15, 2018. On September 1, 2018, Grayson was waived by the Falcons.

Salt Lake Stallions

Grayson signed with the Salt Lake Stallions of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

(AAF). Prior to the season he left the team to sign with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Denver Broncos

On October 25, 2018 Grayson was signed to the Broncos' practice squad. On January 2, 2019, Grayson was re-signed to reserve/future contract. On May 2, 2019, the Broncos waived Grayson. On August 8, 2019, it was reported that Grayson confirmed he was "stepping away" from football after declining an offer from the Falcons.

References

External links

Colorado State Rams bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grayson, Garrett 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Vancouver, Washington American football quarterbacks Colorado State Rams football players New Orleans Saints players Atlanta Falcons players Salt Lake Stallions players Denver Broncos players