Doran Grant played college ball at Ohio State from 2011 to 2014.
At DB/CB he tallied 140 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 19 pass deflections, 9 interceptions for 146 yards and a TD.
Selected in the 4th round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Steelers.
Over the next few seasons, Doran was on and off the Practice squad of the Steelers, Bills, Giants, Jaguars, and Bears.
Late in 2018 signed with the Atlanta Legends of the AAF.
Finished with 12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 4 pass deflections in 8 contests.
Played for the Defenders of the XFL in 2020 starting one contest.
Posted 7 tackles and 1 pass deflection for DC in 5 games.
He’d sign with the Blue Bombers after the XFL folded due to COVID.
After the CFL cancelled the season due to COVID, he opted out of play.
Grant went into coaching where he has been coaching at the high school level.
NOTES:
My friend Seth helped me get Doran way back when he joined the DC Defenders. He said all the players were excited to sign their cards at the team meet and greet. The certified is basically a zoomed up version of his base card. Still it looks good and I am fortunate Seth was kind enough to help me out.
Toby Gerhart played RB at Stanford from 2006-2009.
He burst onto the national scene his Junior season rushing for 1136 yards and 15 TDs on 210 carries.
Then Gerhart took the FBS by storm leading all rushers with 343 carries for 1871 yards and 28 TDs on 354 plays in 2009.
He’d finish second in Heisman Voting behind Alabama RB Mark Ingram.
Reminding many of Touchdown Tommy Vardell, Gerhart was a second round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2010- replacing recently departed Chester Taylor.
He’d see snaps behind All Pro Adrian Peterson at RB over the next 4 years.
Gerhart’s best season came in 2011 when he rushed 109 times for 531 yards, while catching 23 passes.
Over his time in Minnesota, Gerhart was a decent threat out of the backfield, catching 77 passes for 600 yards and 7 TDs, along with his 1300 yards rushing and 5 TDs as a north south runner.
Expected to be the replacement for Maurice Jones-Drew, Toby signed with the Jaguars in 2014.
The Jaguars had many problems- the least of all being RB, as Gerhart finished second behind Denard Robinson with 101carries for 326 yards and 2 TDs.
He’d spend a good portion of 2015 on IR and retire after his release in 2016.
ACCOLADES:
Doak Walker Award 2009
College Football Hall of Fame
Archie Griffin Award 2009
Jim Brown Award 2009
PAC 10 Offensive Player of the Year 2009
NOTES:
I remember when Toby was drafted there was a lot of hype on him as the second coming of the ‘Great White Hope’- a questionable tag frequently given to white runningbacks, as they rarely led the NFL in rushing for a while there. (Peyton Hills most notably broke ‘the curse’ just going over 1,000 yards for Cleveland back in 2010.) Oddly before that the most notable name to hold that title was another Stanford back- Tommy Vardell, who also played for Cleveland.
When I did these Super Bowl MVP cards back in 2022, I sent my friend Rick a copy of the Desmond Howard card since he was such a big fan of the Packers. Then I sent one out to Desmond myself.
Whether it got lost in the mail or Desmond saw it and kept it, I didn’t get mine back- but Rick did. I was pretty sad about it. I mean not like at Rick. No it was this feeling that punched my TTM desire in the gut. I just felt tired after not getting this one back in 2022 as I put a lot of work into these and I thought he’d be excited to sign.
Anyway I decided to give another shot this year after seeing a few successes on SCN and didn’t really expect anything. Lo and behold almost 6 months after I sent it, this one came back!
Unlike just sending TTM to players and what I interpret as letting them know that they are feeling seen- when I do customs- or hacks in this case, it is I who feels seen when they sign them.
Big win.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
