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.
Tim Couch played QB for the Kentucky Wildcats from 1996-’98.
In ’97 he led the FBS in Attempts (547), Completions (363), Completion percentage (66.4%), yards (3,884), and yards per game (353.1).
He’d have an equally impressive ’98 leading the conference or FBS in Attempts, Completions, completion percentage, yards, TD, yards per game, and QB rating- setting numerous conference and school records.
Was the first overall pick of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns- who were restarting after the team moved to Baltimore a few years prior.
Couch had a rough outing with the ‘expansion’ Browns- but there were high points, including leading the team to the playoffs in 2002.
A broken leg opened the door for Kelly Holcomb and from there he battled Kelly for the remainder of his playing career.
His best statistical season came in 2001, starting all 16 games under center, Tim threw for 3,040 yards and completed 272 of 454 passes with 17 TDs.
After the 2003 season where he started just 8 games, Couch signed with the Packers in ’04, but failed to make the team due to a torn rotator cuff.
He attempted to make a comeback with various tryouts with teams, over the next few years, and sat out a year rehabbing his injured shoulder.
Signed with the Jaguars in 2007, but was released from the team before the regular season, effectively ending his comeback.
Couch has remained close to the game he loves, and moved into analyst and color work for FOX Sports.
He also spent time calling preseason games in 2018 for the Browns.
ACCOLADES:
College Football Hall of Fame
PFWA All-Rookie Team
NOTES:
I was able to slip into a small window when Tim was signing and get these two autographed. At some point as I was updating the encyclopedia and setting up future posts, I published this as a blank. I saw a success on him after many years recently and it got me thinking about what I had on Tim, so after digging in the database I found the empty file.
Tim played wounded throughout a good portion of his career and his body paid for it on the field. One wonders if his career would’ve turned out differently if he had been drafted by a team that had a decent offensive line.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
