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Janarion Grant

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Janarion Grant
refer to caption
Grant with the Toronto Argonauts in 2024
No. 3 – Toronto Argonauts
Position:Return specialist
Personal information
Born: (1993-11-20) November 20, 1993 (age 31)
Trilby, Florida, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:173 lb (78 kg)
Career information
High school:Pasco (Dade City, Florida)
College:Rutgers
Undrafted:2018
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:Active
CFL status:American
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Kick return yards:56
Punt return yards:52
Return touchdowns:0
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Stats at CFL.ca

Janarion Grant (born November 20, 1993) is an American professional football return specialist for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a three-time Grey Cup champion after winning with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021 and with the Argonauts in 2024. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and signed with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2018.[1]

College career

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Grant with the Scarlet Knights in 2017

Grant attended and played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 2013 to 2017.[2] He was a returner in college over five seasons. He recorded 115 kick returns for 2,857 net yards and five kick return touchdowns to go along with 52 punt returns for 588 net yards and three punt return touchdowns.[3]

College statistics

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Year School Class Pos G Kick Ret Yds Avg TD Punt Ret Yds Avg TD
2013 Rutgers FR WR 12 21 517 24.6 1 17 156 9.2 1
2014 Rutgers SO WR 11 36 910 25.3 0 6 45 7.5 0
2015 Rutgers JR WR 12 40 984 24.6 3 12 167 13.9 1
2016 Rutgers SR WR 4 6 195 32.5 1 7 112 16.0 1
2017 Rutgers SR WR 7 12 251 20.9 0 10 108 10.8 0
Career Rutgers 115 2,857 24.8 5 52 588 11.3 3

Professional career

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Baltimore Ravens

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Grant signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent on May 7, 2018.[4] He made the Ravens final roster as the team's primary kick and punt returner. However, on September 22, 2018, Grant was waived by the Ravens after two fumbles in as many games.[5] He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 25, 2018.[6]

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

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Grant signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 3, 2019. He was added to the practice roster after training camp, but was released on June 18, 2019.[7]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

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Grant was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 23, 2019.[8] He scored his first and second CFL touchdowns on August 8, 2019, in his first CFL game on punt returns against the Calgary Stampeders.[9] His 222 punt-return yards in the game set a Blue Bombers franchise record and ranked as the third-highest single-game in CFL history behind only Gizmo Williams 232 in 1991 and Keith Stokes 224 vs Montreal in 2002.[10] Grant finished the season with three punt return touchdowns and also had one missed FG returned for 61 yards.[10] Grants abilities on special teams helped the team as they would go on to win the 2019 Grey Cup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

After the CFL canceled the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant chose to opt-out of his contract with the Blue Bombers on August 31, 2020.[11] He signed a one-year contract extension with Winnipeg on February 4, 2021.[12] Once again, Grant brought his electric punt return skills to the field as he averaged 11 yards a punt return through the 2021 season. This included another touchdown return for 63 yards against the BC Lions on October 23. In the CFL West Division final against Saskatchewan, Grant returned a missed field goal for 58 yards to the Winnipeg 39 yard-line. This led to an Andrew Harris touchdown as the Bombers would win 21-17 on their way to their second consecutive Grey Cup.[13] Grant and the Bombers would win the 108th Grey Cup, their second title in a row with a 33-25 victory in overtime against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. After becoming a free agent in February 2022, Grant and the Bombers agreed to a new contract on April 13, 2022.[14] He played for the Blue Bombers for two more seasons before becoming a free agent on February 13, 2024.[15]

Toronto Argonauts

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On May 28, 2024, it was announced that Grant had signed with the Toronto Argonauts.[16] He played in 16 regular season games where he had 67 punt returns for 989 yards and three touchdowns, 41 kickoff returns for 1,000 yards and one touchdown, and five missed field goal returns for 106 yards.[17] After leading the league in punt return yards, punt return average, and total return touchdowns as well as finishing second in kickoff return average, Grant was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.[18] He also played in all three post-season games, including the 111th Grey Cup where he had four punt returns for 33 yards, one kickoff return for 25 yards, and two catches for negative four yards in the Argonauts' 41–24 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[19]

Professional statistics

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Year Team G Kick Ret Yds Avg Long TD Punt Ret Yds Avg Long TD
2019 WPG 11 25 600 23.0 74 0 41 591 14.4 83 3
2020 WPG Season cancelled
2021 WPG 6 12 283 23.6 33 0 34 375 11.0 63 1
2022 WPG 16 31 782 25.2 97 1 63 817 13.0 94 2
2023 WPG 8 19 426 22.4 43 0 36 473 13.1 92 1
2024 TOR 16 41 1,000 24.4 103 1 67 989 14.8 96 3
CFL totals 57 128 3,092 24.2 103 2 241 3,245 13.5 96 10

References

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  1. ^ Sargeant, Keith (May 7, 2018). "Ex-Rutgers WR Janarion Grant signs contract with Baltimore Ravens following minicamp". NJ.com. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "Janarion Grant College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  3. ^ "Janarion Grant Career Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  4. ^ Mink, Ryan (May 7, 2018). "Ravens Sign Two Rookie Tryouts, Including an Intriguing Returner". BaltimoreRavens.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  5. ^ Mink, Ryan (September 22, 2018). "Ravens Promote Tim White, Robertson Daniel From Practice Squad". BaltimoreRavens.com.
  6. ^ Mink, Ryan (September 25, 2018). "Ravens Bring Back Janarion Grant and Jermaine Eluemunor to P-Squad". BaltimoreRavens.com.
  7. ^ CFL transactions
  8. ^ "Bombers add wide receiver Janarion Grant". July 23, 2019.
  9. ^ Calgary Stampeders vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers
  10. ^ a b "Janarion Grant profile". Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  11. ^ "Bombers' kick returner Janarion Grant opts out to pursue NFL opportunities". 3downnation.com. August 28, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  12. ^ "Blue Bombers re-sign receiver/returner Janarion Grant". BlueBombers.com. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Judy Owen (December 5, 2021). "Winnipeg Blue Bombers hold off Saskatchewan Roughriders in West final". Global News.
  14. ^ "Blue Bombers re-sign WR/returner Grant to one-year contract - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  15. ^ "Official 2024 Free Agent Tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Argos ink former all-star returner Janarion Grant". Toronto Argonauts. May 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "2024 CFL statistics" (PDF). Canadian Football League. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  18. ^ "Brady Oliveira owns the night at CFL Awards". Canadian Football League. November 15, 2024.
  19. ^ "Play-by-Play, 111th Grey Cup". Canadian Football League. November 17, 2024.
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