Six years later and forever, Vernon Grant is remembered
Published: 6/4/2011 2:13 AM
Last Modified: 6/4/2011 2:13 AM
The May 19 death of Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box occurred four days shy of the sixth anniversary of the death of Oklahoma State safety Vernon Grant, an undersized but excellent football player who was defined by a sensational personality.
After having been a three-year starter for the Cowboys, Grant was killed in a May 23, 2005, auto accident in south Dallas, a few miles from his hometown of Duncanville, Texas. He was on his way to have dinner with his father.
Grant died on a Monday night. The funeral service occurred the following Saturday in Duncanville. Among the more than 2,000 mourners in attendance were Les Miles, who four months earlier had left OSU to become the head coach at LSU; and Mike Gundy, then the new Cowboy coach.
Miles: "(Grant) lived life. He lived on the edge. He touched all of us."
Gundy: "I have three sons. I only hope that they have as much enthusiasm and love and joy for life as that man had."
The funeral was the most uplifting and inspirational that I’ve ever witnessed. Grant was an Academic All-Big 12, on course to receive a degree in mechanical engineering. He was the president of OSU's chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. It was said that Grant might have been not only OSU’s most popular student-athlete at the time, but OSU’s most popular student overall.
Grant was a vibrant, funny guy – infinitely quotable. During the pep rally that preceded the 2004 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, he was the star of the show. For as long as I live, I will remember Vernon Grant.
Today, a Tulsa World portrait of Grant – preening and clowning during the Cowboys’ 2004 media-day photo session, with teammates laughing in the background – is displayed only a few feet from T. Boone Pickens’ suite at Boone Pickens Stadium.
To read my report from Grant’s funeral, click on this link: http://bit.ly/lC8P7i
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
