NFL Week 1 Will Feature Three Former Greyhounds

For the second consecutive season, Assumption will have three former Greyhounds partaking in the action when the National Football League (NFL) kicks off today. And Week 1 features a matchup of two of them—Deonte Harris and Zach Triner ’15 will meet again when the New Orleans Saints host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first of two conference matchups of the season. 

Harris is undoubtedly the most talked about former Greyhound in the NFL after his breakout season as a kick return specialist with the New Orleans Saints last year.  After an impressive preseason, Harris, a wide receiver and kick returner, signed with the New Orleans Saints as a rookie undrafted free agent, and continues to impress. Harris was named a 2020 Pro Bowl starter and is looking to expand his role with the team in 2020. 

Triner is in his second season as the long snapper for the Bucs, and this year he has some high-profile company—former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski joined Tampa Bay in the widely publicized offseason. Triner, a Marshfield native, has found success in the NFL after a five-year journey that saw participating in workouts, tryouts, and training camps 13 times, eventually moving back east to put his psychology and political science degrees to use working for Fidelity Investments in between, but he never gave up. Last season, Triner was the oldest rookie in the NFL and is settling in with Buccaneers nicely. 

This season, Ashton Grant ’19 will be on the sidelines as a coach for the Cleveland Browns. Grant, who was named the first-ever recipient of the NFL Cleveland Browns’ Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship, is spending the 2020 season working with and learning from Cleveland’s coaching staff. This summer, he participated in the Browns’ off-season program that provided six coaches at various levels the opportunity to gain experience at the NFL level with the hope of ultimately landing full-time positions with the league. After finishing his football career at Assumption in 2017 where he was a standout wide receiver and captain, Grant participated in training camps with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears, and ultimately played in the Alliance of American Football with the Salt Lake Stallions. His playing career would eventually inspire him to pursue a different path: coaching.  He decided to return to Assumption to finish his sociology degree and last season served as a quality control coach at the College of the Holy Cross. Grant’s coaching debut will be against conference rivals Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. 

Tune in cheer on Harris, Triner, and Grant on Sunday, Sept. 13: 
Cleveland at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m.