Image courtesy of Assumption & The New England Patriots
SAN JOSE, CA – When Ashton Grant was playing at Assumption, the dream never got this far.
Mostly because busses were the main form of transportation.
Playing or going to a Super Bowl as a coach was a pipe dream as a young player for the Greyhounds. Now, as the quarterbacks coach partially responsible for the sudden arrival of Drake Maye, Grant is living out dreams he couldn’t even fathom at one point.
“First thought was ‘wow,’ because at Assumption college, we never took planes to games,” Grant said with a smile during Opening Night on Monday. “Getting off the runway, seeing all the people and the designs was pretty sweet. I think being at practice (Monday) brought me back down to earth because at the end of the day, it’s just another football game with a lot of hoopla around it.
“But, definitely a surreal moment, especially being a football fan and all the things the Super Bowl means.”
Between Maye’s success, the team’s success and just the overall ‘holy crap’ nature of this entire season, Grant has admittedly had to take a step back at times and revel in what’s happening.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” he said. “I think that’s a credit to Drake Maye and Coach Vrabel. I just try to make those guys proud. I couldn’t have asked for a better year. This has almost been…it’s unreal to think about it. I talk to my wife all the time like, ‘can you believe this is happening?”
Grant has also recently had his second child, adding to the whirlwind season.
“They’ll be out here. They fly in on Thursday,” Grant explained. “The oldest one will be at the game, the youngest one is not ready for the noise and stuff. But, it’s super cool because I go home and after we won the AFC Championship, I said (to my oldest) ‘we’re going to the Super Bowl!’ so now, every time she seems me she says ‘we’re going to the Super Bowl! We’re going to the Super Bowl!”
Grant has been very day-to-day oriented since playing for Bob Chesney at Assumption. It’s a staple of all Chesney teams, but obviously, college football players will dream of things like what the organization is experiencing right now. So, does this compare to any of those dreams yet?
“It’s pretty cool, because we’re standing at the pinnacle of our sport,” said Grant. “Everyone who plays football dreams of being at the Super Bowl. So, for this to be a reality right now is pretty cool. When I was at Assumption, this seemed like a pipe dream, something that is almost unfathomable. I remember being at Holy Cross and my mom asking if I wanted to work in the NFL. I was so starstruck at the idea, I was like, I’ll be lucky if I get a GA job at UConn.
So, now to be here, it’s pretty surreal.”
Despite his deep New England ties, Grant had a tough answer when asked if he has a favorite Super Bowl memory.
“Patriots fans will hate me if I say this, but I was a diehard Eagles fan my whole childhood. So, when Nick Foles got it done, I was super excited,”he said. “I was in Tampa training and my college roommate was an Eagles fan. I just remember FaceTiming him and we both had our Eagles jerseys on and we were just over the moon.
“That would probably be the one. And then, the 28-3 comeback. I remember sitting in my dorm at Assumption and at halftime, I just looked around the room and I’m like ‘Tom Brady’s going to win this game.’ I don’t know why I knew that, but I had a feeling it would happen. Being from Ne England, you see all the stories and sure enough, it’s exactly how it happened.”
Grant was also asked if there was any point this year where he thought something like this magical run might be possible.
It turns out, the moment came all the way back in April.
“I think in OTAs was a big ‘ah ha’ moment that we could have something special. Just, because I remember near the end of the mandatory minicamp, we were in the bubble. The entire team was pushing sleds and racing 100 yards up and back and they were yelling and competing and talking crap to each other.
“After the last one, they wanted to line up and do it again. I just remember thinking like, which NFL team on the last day of mandatory minicamp is enjoying pushing sleds? That’s when I thought we would be a little different. Then, I think that Week 5 game against Buffalo, we won that game and at that point, guys started to look around at each other and realize, you know, I think we can be in every single game and then the confidence just started to grow from there and now, here we are.”
Once Monday night’s festivities were done, the team does still have a few small media obligations remaining, but it’s mostly all about football from here on out…just how Grant and the rest of the franchise likes it.
“I think practice is my favorite thing during the week, because you get to play the game before the game,” Grant added. “A lot of people look at practice as just a means to an end to get to Sunday. But, I think I try to visualize that being the actual game rep and if that was something that happens on Sunday, is it something we’d be happy with? Or, is it something we’d want to correct and get it corrected immediately?
“So, every time we go to practice, I go in with that mindset of just playing the game over and over again and I think that’s the funnest part about it, is seeing that come to life on Sunday.”
Spoken like a true Chesney-coached player and now, Super Bowl coach.