NEW ORLEANS — Joshua Perry’s face lit up as he smiled from ear to ear. He loves when he gets asked about his good friend and teammate, Curtis Grant.
It was just one question, but Perry took 1 minute, 17 seconds to answer. It seemed like he could have gone on for another 10 minutes.
Perry called Grant "the heart and soul of the linebacker room" and says he's one of the most selfless players on Ohio State's team, caring about everybody else before he cares for himself.
"It puts a smile on my face," he said. "I love talking about Curtis because I love being around him. He’s a genuine guy.”
A genuine guy who has completely turned his career around.
A former five-star prospect in high school, Grant came to Ohio State with high expectations. He was believed by many to be the next big thing at middle linebacker for the Buckeyes.
That didn't happen, though. He struggled throughout his first three seasons at Ohio State. Before this year, he was viewed as a bust.
Then, to make matters worse, Grant's father passed away during the middle of last season. It was the low point in his life and made him question his love for the game of football.
"I tell everybody I’ve been through hell and back with this program. Seen the goods, seen the bads," Grant said. "Started off doing good then get in a bad place, got to a place where I didn’t want to even play football anymore, especially after losing my dad because that was the one who got me started playing football."
But Ohio State is thankful Grant decided to continue playing because now as a senior, he is set to start for the Buckeyes when they take on No. 1 Alabama on Thursday in the College Football Playoff.
His journey to get here, though, was not easy.
"Your greatest satisfaction is seeing these guys grow up, seeing these guys have success, seeing these guys battle," said Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Luke Fickell." Curtis Grant, sitting over there, to see where he was 11, 10-and-a-half months ago, to where he is right now? There's nothing else that can give me greater joy, like your own son, you're own kid having success."
Grant is not Ohio State's best player. He might not even be its best option at middle linebacker as there could be a strong argument made for true freshman Raekwon McMillan.
But that doesn't matter. Not to Grant, anyway. He doesn't care about how much he plays or how many tackles he makes. He cares about his teammates and bringing "positive energy" to everyone around him.
His impact on this year's team has gone far beyond his performance on the field.
“It sounds a little crazy, but if I get these other guys rolling it feels like a big team effort and they feel the positive energy coming from the guy in the middle and I see that and feed off of them," he said. "It just keeps feeding back and forth and it’s pretty hard to be stopped.”
