Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
#76. Deon Grant
Panthers stats: 48 games, 48 starts, 216 tackles, 11 interceptions, 41 passes defended
Career stats: 176 games, 161 starts, 778 tackles, 30 interceptions, 110 passes defended
Free safety Deon Grant had a brief but memorable career with the Panthers. He only spent four years in Carolina between 2000 and 2003, but boy was he good when he was patrolling the secondary in Charlotte.
After playing his college ball at Tennessee, the Panthers selected Grant in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. His professional career got off to an unfortunate start after fracturing his hip in training camp of his rookie season. The injury forced him to miss the entire year.
But in 2001 Grant came back healthy and ready to contribute. He won the starting free safety spot that year and wouldn’t relinquish it for the next three seasons, starting all 48 of the Panthers regular season games. In 2001 he had a stellar season with 71 tackles an a career-high five interceptions. He was also credited with 13 passes defended and one sack in his first full season as a starter. Grant was one of the few bright spots in Carolina’s 1-15 2001 season.
In 2002 the Panthers bounced back to a 7-9 season, and Grant once again did his part in helping the team succeed. He racked up 68 tackles, picked off three passes, and broke up a career-high 16 passes.
In 2003, his fourth season and the last year of his rookie contract, the Panthers went 11-5 and the “Cardiac Cats” were born. Under coach John Fox and quarterback Jake Delhomme, Carolina won the NFC and played in the Super Bowl, a 32-29 loss to the New England Patriots that still haunts many of us to this day. Grant had another solid season with 77 tackles, three interceptions, and 12 passes defended in the regular season. In four playoff games he had 18 tackles and an interception in helping Carolina make the Super Bowl.
In 2004 he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He would go on to play for the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants over the course of his solid 11-year NFL career.
