Linebacker Curtis Grant began his offeseason Saturday evening when the Hermitage Panthers fell 26-7 to Battlefield in the state championship game.
"It did [hurt] after the game," Grant said. "But all of us came to the consensus that we made history and we did a lot of big things throughout the season, so we couldn’t be too mad."
Grant, 6-3, 220 pounds, said the 2010 squad was the first Hermitage team to ever play in the state title game. Hermitage won the state championship in 1958, but back then, the champion was decided by points, not a playoff.
Grant has much business to attend to before Feb. 2, 2011, national signing day, when he will presumably sign with a college football team. As of September, he had 27 offers from schools including Florida, Alabama and Michigan, and many others from which to choose.
Grant has spent the past two days in Washington DC on a media tour with the U.S. Army. Grant will play in the Army All-American Bowl Jan. 8, 2011 in San Antonio. His list of experiences this week includes laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetary, going to the Pentagon and watching a filming of Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser's TV show "Pardon the Interruption."
“Some of this stuff, I never thought I’d see," Grant said.
Grant is one of six finalists for the U.S. Army player of the year award. The other finalists are Ray Drew (Thomas County Central High School, Thomasville, Ga.); George Farmer (Junipero Serra High School, Gardena, Calif.); Demetrius Hart (Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando, Fla.); Cody Kessler (Centennial High School, Bakersfield, Calif.); and Trey Metoyer (Whitehouse High School, Whitehouse, Texas).
In addition to playing in the bowl game, Grant intends to visit four schools before making his college choice. He wouldn't reveal what the four schools are because he said he hasn't told all the schools he's not going to visit.
Grant did say, however, that the resignation of Florida coach Urban Meyer didn't affect how he felt about the Gators.
"I kind of already knew that was coming," Grant said of Meyer's resignation. "I just got a feeling about it."
New coach Will Muschamp has called Grant twice since he was hired as Florida's new coach Saturday night.
The U.S. Army player of the year will be announced during the game's festivities.
"Hopefully I’ll get to win, but they’ve got a lot of good candidates," Grant said.
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