Ravens Football Names New Coordinators

April 30th, 2025: Head coach Corey Grant and Carleton Athletics are proud to announce the completion of a national search to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators. The Ravens have hired Ronald Hilaire as the team’s new defensive coordinator, while Nathaniel Griffith will lead the program’s offence.  

“I’m excited to move forward with these two men,” said Corey Grant. “Their experience and leadership bring us great stability as our program prepares for the 2025 season.”  

Hilaire is the former head coach of the McGill Redbirds, having served in the position from 2015-2023. Most recently, Hilaire was the head coach for the 2024 IFAF U20 World Junior Team Canada 2 program. Prior to joining the Redbirds for one season as defensive coordinator, Hilaire was a member of the Montreal Carabins, where he also served as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.   

Griffith joins the Ravens from York University, where he most recently served as the Lions’ associate head coach and offensive coordinator. Griffith has spent the past decade at York, with stints as the special team’s coordinator and run game coordinator. Internationally, Griffith was also a member of the coaching staff for the 2024 IFAF U20 World Junior Team Canada 2. During his coaching career, Griffith has assisted at five East-West Bowl games.  

Griffith has served as the head coach of the Brampton Bulldogs since 2020. He held the same position with the York Region Lions from 2015-2018.

2014, Oct 4th: Toronto 32 @ Carleton 53

Capturing the summary of one of Carleton's first wins following the return of the school's football program. They were winless in 2013 but recorded four wins in 2014, including the one below.

The cropped text is from the football team's website, which was uncredited. Oddly, it focused on Toronto quarterback Simon Nassar's accomplishments rather than that of the Ravens.

The statistical data is from the USports website from when it was referred to as CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sports). 

...Carleton pivot Nick Gorgichuk was 21-of-28 for 302 yards, two touchdown and no interceptions, while Jesse Mills was 3-of-4 for 91 yards and Kyle Van Wynsberghe was 1-of-1 for 76 yards and one touchdown.

The Blues, playing their 1,000th game, had little reason to celebrate with the exception of quarterback Simon Nassar who set a single-game Canadian Interuniversity Sport record with 49 completions.

The fourth-year pivot from Toronto was 49-of-62 for 547 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He easily shattered the CIS mark of 41 completions set in 1981 by Varsity Blues pivot Dan Feraday and tied in 2012 by current Sherbrooke quarterback Jeremi Roch.

....

The Ravens jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead and made it 23-0 early in the second quarter.

The Blues finally managed to get on the board late in the second, but the Ravens responded with Van Wynsberghe connecting with Nathaniel Behar for a 76-yard touchdown pass. Carleton extended its lead as Emilio Galotta had a 13-yard fumble return to make it 37-7.

Michael Domagala added 24 and 26 yard field goals in the third quarter, while Nassar had a 24-yard touchdown pass making it 43-17 at the end of three quarters.

Nassar added two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, but the Ravens responded with a touchdown and field goal of their own to keep the game out of reach.

Nov 8th, 1947, Ottawa Citizen: "Carleton College Crew Stops Queen's Team, 11-6"

uOttawa's Max Charbonneau Receives the OUA's President's Award

The image and text below are cut from a press release announcing the Conference's major award winners.

A senior season to remember for Max Charbonneau, the Ottawa Gee-Gees linebacker takes home the 2023 President’s Award as the OUA’s outstanding stand-up defensive player.

Despite missing time early last season and ultimately playing through a knee injury, the criminology major was still selected by the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers after earning a ticket to the national combine. Returning to the Garnet and Grey for a final season, however, Charbonneau showcases what being an elite tackler with outstanding consistency looks like from a middle linebacker.

A tackle-machine for the Gee-Gees this season, Charbonneau found himself atop the conference when it came to takedowns. The senior linebacker finished with 44 solo and 36 assisted tackles, good for 62.0 in total, which was second across the country. On a game-by-game basis, Charbonneau’s 7.8 tackles per contest also had him among the top three in the conference and nation.

Charbonneau also added a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and blocked kick as part of his award-winning season, becoming the first Gee-Gee to earn the award since 2017 (Jackson Bennett).

1996, Oct 27th: "Gee-Gees Earn Another Shot at Ravens"

Another uOttawa/Carleton double bill best shared as a post.

1961, Oct 2nd: "U of O, Carleton Win College Grid Openers"

After a lengthy quiet spell, there may be a flurry of random-seeming activity on here over the next couple of days.

I'm doing a clean up of old scans from my days of visiting the library for newspaper archives. Anything not already copied here will be so I can finally declutter my little football closet.

The game summary includes both university teams so rather than choose one over the other, I thought it best to make a post of it to link on either page. 

Oct 28th, 1989: "Gee-Gees Battle Past Stingers"

Oct 1st, 2022: "Gendron stars as Gee-Gees roll to Panda Game victory over Ravens"

Finding coverage of regular season university football can be tricky at the best of times. That doesn't normally apply to the well-hyped Panda Game, but unfortunately the coverage of post-game behaviour by students ended up dominating my search results.

The article below is originally from the Ottawa Sun but found through MSN dot com. It was written by Ken Warren and the full version can be read through this link.

In the entire 2021 season, Nicholas Gendron registered a grand total of 173 receiving yards for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Fast forward to Saturday’s Panda Game, when the Gatineau native had the game of his life in front of the packed, spirited house of 23,078 students at TD Place, where the Gee-Gees ran all over the Carleton Ravens in what ended up as a 37-7 victory.

Photography by Emir Atli 

...

Gendron finished the afternoon with eight catches for 211 yards, the fourth best receiving day in Gee-Gees history.

Thousands of students were lined up, still on their way into the stadium, when Gendron slipped behind the Ravens defence and hauled in an 81-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Maracle late in the first quarter.

The spectacular play erased an early 7-0 deficit, turning any and all momentum in the Gee-Gees’ favour.

“You know, when the ball is in the air, it’s kind of silent,” Gendron said. “But, when the ball is in your hands and the crowd erupts, it’s just so special. And being in the end zone and seeing my teammates being so happy, it was a great moment. The offensive line did such a great job on that play and the whole game protecting for Ben.”

Photography by Guillaume Sénéchal 

...

A support player a year ago — he caught one pass for 10 yards in the 2021 Panda Game — Gendron has become a key part of the offence for the Gee-Gees, who have won four straight games and are 5-1 overall in Ontario University Athletics conference play.

...

Gendron had plenty of company in posting big numbers on Saturday. Maracle was on his game throughout, completing 20 of 23 passes for 354 yards, adding a second touchdown toss to Willie-Pierre Dimbonji.

Workhorse running back J.P. Cimankinda punished the Ravens defence on the ground, rushing for 166 yards on 31 carries, including two touchdowns. Kicker Campbell Fair made three of five field-goal attempts.

...

The Ravens struck first when quarterback Tanner DeJong connected with Kaseem Ferdinand for a 26-yard touchdown with 6:10 remaining in the opening quarter, but that was it for Carleton scoring.

The Gee-Gees led 10-7 at half-time, as TD Place air was full of potent smells and the traditional colourful back and forth chants between Ravens faithful in the north-side stands and Gee-Gees backers in the southern seats.

But, as the Gee-Gees continued to shut down the Ravens offence and delivered a series of extended drives in the third and fourth quarters, there was little doubt about who would finish on top.

“Just too many mistakes,” first-year Ravens head coach Corey Grant said. “They did a really good job, they had a really good game plan coming in. They executed better than us, and, you know, things just got out of hand at the end there.”

Photography by Greg Mason

Sept 10th, 2022: uOttawa 20 @ McMaster 14

Catching up on recent action with a partial recap from geegees.ca. The photography is by Marisa Settimi. You can check out more of here work here.

A well-balanced affair saw the Gee-Gees' defence consistently get pressure on the quarterback and take the ball away, finishing with four sacks and two interceptions. Offensively, J-P Cimankinda once again eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark, finishing with 102 yards on 20 attempts. 

Throughout the first half, the Gee-Gees built a 13-0 lead on a one-yard rush by Cimankinda, followed by a rouge, a field goal, and a conceded safety. 

In the third quarter, McMaster would eventually get on the scoreboard on a nine-yard pass from Andreas Dueck to Jackson Cooling.

Ottawa eventually responded after Harnoor Dhaliwal intercepted Dueck to set up a 4-play, 37-yard drive for a Gee-Gees touchdown. Ben Maracle found Daniel Oladejo for the 17-yard major to extend the Ottawa lead to 20-7.

...

Maracle was 15-27 for 134 yards and a touchdown, while Willy-Pierre Dimbongi led the way receiving with 63 yards on 5 catches. 

Defensively, Dhaliwal registered seven tackles (five solo, four assists) and an interception, while Kevin Victome had the other takeaway. Riley Hildebrandt had 1.5 sacks in the win, while Emmanuel Aboagye-Gyan (one sack), Michael Pezzuto (one sack), Kevin Anderson (half sack) rounded out Gee-Gees that got to the quarterback. 

Sept 10th, 2022: York Lions 14 @ Carleton Ravens 45

Game summary from goravens.ca. Photo credit unavailable. 

York got the scoring started in the opening quarter. After taking an early 1-0 lead, Alfred Olay (Courtice, Ont.) returned a missed Carleton field goal 109 yards for a touchdown. The Lions would miss the extra point but held the lead.

The Ravens answered before the end of the quarter with some impressive special teams of their own. After the Lions fumbled a punt return, Shaiheem Charles-Brown pounced on and recovered the loose ball in the endzone for a touchdown and extra point to tie the game 7-7 at the end of the opening 15 minutes.

Carleton began to put this game out of reach in the 2nd quarter outscoring the Lions 28-0 in the frame. The Ravens’ passing attack began finding holes in the Lions’ secondary racking up 106 yards through the air just in the second quarter. Quarterback Tanner DeJong (Brockville, Ont.) first found Kasseem Ferdinand (Ottawa, Ont.) in the endzone for a 25-yard touchdown to put Carleton in front. DeJong went back to work later in the quarter finding Frederick Hachey (Laval, Que.) for a 75-yard score.

Special teams and defence both got involved in the scoring for Carleton as well. Eljames Aiguomudu (Montreal, Que.) returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown, and Denny Ferdinand (Ottawa, Ont.) returned a punt 57 yards as Carleton carried a commanding 35-7 lead into the half. With the touchdowns by Denny and Kasseem, the Ferdinand brothers became the first ever Carleton brothers to score a touchdown in the same game.

In the second half, the Ravens protected their lead with solid pass defence which hindered the Lions’ offence. Ben Huckabone (Pembroke, Ont.) blocked a second punt for the Ravens and returned it to the endzone which put the Ravens ahead 45-14, continuing what was a field day for Carleton’s Special Teams.

 

St. Patrick's College's 1965 Season

It can be argued that St. Patrick's College could have a more prominent place in Ottawa football history if only they'd had that one defining moment. In 1965, they came very close to making that loud statement.

The Ottawa-St. Lawrence football conference, in which St. Pat's played, was split into two divisions. St. Patrick's College was fairly dominant in theirs, but Carleton and uOttawa were in the other division and were each 5-0 going into that year's Panda Game. As a result, most of the eyeballs were aimed in the direction of those two schools while St. Pat's was quietly putting together a solid season of their own.

Here are St. Patrick's results in their four-team division.

Oct  2nd: @ Macdonald College W 33-14
Oct  9th: College Militaire Royale W 45-07

Oct 16th: Bishop's W 16-00
Oct 23rd: @ Bishop's L 07-25
Oct 30th: @ College Militaire Royale W 39-00
Nov 6th: Macdonald  College W 32-09

The final game above secured the Eastern division for St. Pat's, the reward for which would be to meet the 7-0 uOttawa Gee-Gees for the Conference Crown. 

In the championship game, uOttawa would overcome a  23-14 deficit and score 25 unanswered points to win 39-23. To have held on to their early lead to conquer an undefeated, perennial championship contender, perhaps St. Patrick's presence in local football history would be a little more commonly known.

They placed a few players on the conference all-star team. That list, and the team picture below, are both lifted from the school's1967 yearbook. 

St. Patrick's College merged with Carleton University in 1967, effectively terminating the football program, but they were not shy about taking credit for bolstering the Ravens roster. The following is from St. Patrick's 1968 yearbook.

The summaries for the division-clinching game against Macdonald above make mention of a past St. Patrick's championship. Unfortunately, one newspaper states that it was in 1957 while the other claims it was in 1958. I believe the former to be accurate but we'll do a little research there and shine a spotlight on it soon. 

USports Players of the Week

Both uOttawa and Carleton had players honoured by the OUA earlier this week who then went on to be be named players of the week nationally by USports on August 31st.

Defensive Player of the Week – Shaiheem Charles-Brown, Carleton

A record-setting opening game performance for Carleton University defensive lineman Shaiheem Charles-Brown earns him the nod as U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week.

The senior Psychology student from Montreal made himself at home in the McMaster backfield, recording a school-record four sacks in the contest. The final sack of Marauders quarterback Andreas Dueck came late in the fourth period forcing McMaster into a late-game charge third and long situation that resulted in an interception as Carleton held on for a 24-18 victory.

Charles-Brown was in REDBLACKS training camp this past spring. This is a good start to ensuring that he gets another shot with someone in 2023. 

Special Teams Player of the Week – Campbell Fair, Ottawa

Veteran kicker Campbell Fair accounted for 13 of his team’s 19 points, including the winning field goal with seven ticks remaining in regulation time as the Ottawa Gee-Gees defeated Windsor 19-16 en route to earning the U SPORTS Football special teams player of the week award.

The fourth-year Arts student from Carrying Place, Ont. was four of six in field goal attempts including a pair from beyond 40-yards as he established his longest field goal in his career connecting from 46 yards in the second quarter. He would add 234 yards on six punts to his game totals.  

August 27th, 2022: uOttawa 19 @ Windsor 16

The game summary below is from geegees.ca. A fuller version of it can be found here.

The scoring summary is copied from the OUA's website while the image of J.P. Cimankinda is from the U. of O.'s Instagram account. They credit Windsor's Kevin Jerrold for it. 

On Saturday, the Gee-Gees football opened their season with a 19-16 win over the Windsor Lancers in Windsor. After making the longest football road trip in the OUA, the Gee-Gees will return to Ottawa with a 1-0 record.

Ottawa opened the scoring with quarterback Ben Maracle scampering into the end zone on a two-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead mid-way through the first quarter.

The Gee-Gees extended their lead with seven minutes remaining in the second quarter on a 42-yard field goal from Campbell Fair. 

The script flipped shortly afterwards for the Gee-Gees when Maracle exited the game with an injury and Matt Mahler took over.

An attempted dump-off pass by Mahler fell right into the hands of Windsor defender Liam Hoskins, who returned it 71 yards for a touchdown. Fair responded with his second field goal of the night, this time from 46 yards to give the Gee-Gees a 13-7 lead.

After the half, the Lancers added a touchdown of their own, along with a conceded safety by Ottawa, Windsor claimed a 16-13 lead. Fair would again be called on to tie the game and converted a third attempt from 30 yards out. 

In the end, Fair drilled a 38-yarder through the middle of the uprights with seven seconds left on the clock to break the stalemate and hand Ottawa the win.

"Anytime you win the game on a kick, you go wild," said Fair. "After a long drive, you're tired, it's hard to keep your mind on the game, but we managed to do it and it worked out well for us." 

 

Key contributions on the Ottawa offence came from J-P Cimankinda, who rushed for 125 yards on 18 carries, as well as Daniel Oladejo, who had eight receptions for 79 yards. Mahler finished 13-23 for 118 yards, while Maracle was 5-7 for 69 yards.

Defensively, James Peter led the way with eight tackles and a forced fumble, while Marc Rondeau and Riley Hildebrandt had interceptions. Rondeau originally returned his interception for a touchdown until it was erased due to a penalty.

"It was one of those character-building wins," said Gee-Gees head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. "We learned the value of staying positive, we had a lot of adversity, but we responded. On the flipside there are a lot of things to still work on, so we'll break down the film and make some corrections." 

August 27th, 2022: McMaster 18 @ Carleton 24

The scoring summary below is copied from the OUA website whereas the game recap was obtained from goravens.ca. Click on this link for quotes and additional stats.

I believe the photograph is by Marc Lafleur but credit was not given on the Instagram account from which I found it.

The Carleton Ravens kicked off the 2022 season with a win, some firsts, and a record as they battled from behind in the second half to beat the McMaster Marauders 24-18 at TAAG Park.

Coach Corey Grant became the first Ravens head coach to win in his debut since Kim McCuaig in 1969. On defence, Shaheem Charles-Brown broke the Ravens single games record for sacks with four.

On offence, Ravens quarterback Tanner DeJong passed 3,000 yards and Mark Lee (3,001) for sixth all-time in Ravens passing yards.

The matchup was tight from the start with the Ravens kicking off the afternoon with a massive return by Denny Ferdinand, which generated a great starting field position. After Josh Ferguson was able to help the Ravens make gains, a deep punt from Vincent Plouffe would force the Marauders deep. The great defensive field position would help set up a sack of Andraes Dueck forcing Mac to concede a safety.

The two teams would trade short drives the rest of the first quarter before McMaster’s Jacob Patten would return a wobbly punt 53-yards for the first major of the afternoon. Despite a strong defensive quarter, the Ravens found themselves down after 15 minutes 7-2.

After exchanging possessions early in the second quarter the Marauders would capitalize on a Ravens fumble and begin a possession in the red zone. The Ravens’ defence would continue their strong play standing up the Marauders and forcing them to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Benjamin MacDonald for a 10-2 lead.

The Ravens would continue to build momentum holding the Marauders to a two-and-out allowing themselves to start a drive on the offensive half of the field. Working with no huddle the Ravens quickly worked their way into the red zone and veteran quarterback Tanner DeJong found his rhythm putting the Marauders under pressure. After finding Kaseem Ferdinand on the out, DeJong would go back to Ferdinand for the Ravens’ first major of the season.

The Ravens would look to tie on the conversion but come up a finger-tip short as DeJong’s pass sailed threw his receiver’s hands. The Ravens would trail 10-8. Dueck would work one more key drive for the Ravens driving into the Ravens’ red zone and setting up a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 5.

The Ravens’ offence started the third quarter by putting a jolt of electricity into TAAG Park as DeJong would drive into the Marauders’ red zone setting up a nice play-action pass to Josh Ferguson who scrambled his way to the 1-yard line setting up a Tristan Rinaldis keeper for the touchdown and 15-13 lead.

After a Ravens safety, MacDonald would hit his third field goal of the game to make it a one-point game. As the fourth quarter drove on, Kaseem Ferdinand would get the Ravens into McMaster territory with a great run after the catch. The Ravens would cap off a 9-play 75-yard drive with a Joshua Ferguson 7-yard run to put the Ravens up 24-16.

McMaster would force the Ravens to concede a safety with 1:04 to play, only to have Denny Ferdinand pick off Dueck with ten seconds left on the clock.

1990, Oct 13th: uOttawa 21 @ Carleton 34

What follows is another example of a game between Carleton and uOttawa which might have generated much more notoriety and recognition had it been played under the Panda game label.

Carleton broke a 19-game losing streak dating back to October 24th of 1987 with this victory against their chief rival.

That brought Carleton's record to 1-4. They would not win either of their remaining two games and would complete the season with a 1-6 record.

For that matter, they would not win a game again until the third game of the 1991 season when they beat...uOttawa by a score of 9-0.  They would lose their next 12 in a row until knocking off uOttawa once again in the second game of the 1993 season. 

In summary, after defeating Queen's 16-14 on October 10th, 1987, the Ravens would win only three game between that date and September 18th, 1993, and all three were against the University of Ottawa. Got to love rivalries!   

1994, Oct 15th: "Gee-Gees survive great scare from Ravens but just barely"

Not every meeting between the University of Ottawa and Carleton is a Panda game, but many of the non-Panda contests are noteworthy regardless. In reviewing results for either team, I often find that the non-Panda contest is the more entertaining of the two match-ups. 

Such was the case in 1994. Have yourself a read. The first image is of Chris Evraire getting past Scott Hogarth and the second is of Harry Von Hofwegen sacking quarterback Steve Clarke.  

Scott Alexander Named to Carleton Ravens Hall of Fame

Carleton University named its 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame class on May 12th and it included record-setting Ravens receiver Scott Alexander.

The following information was compiled by Ravens Sports Information.

In an era when football was primarily a running game, wide receiver Scott Alexander began his career with the Ravens in 1969 and set the bar for all other Carleton receivers to be compared. Over four seasons, Alexander rewrote the Carleton record book establishing records that still stand nearly 50 years later.

Alexander graduated as the school’s all-time scoring leader with 134 points, a record that still holds today. He also established Carleton records with ten touchdown catches and 62 points in a single season, as well as touchdowns in a career with 22. His single-season record of 10 touchdown catches and 62 points scored still stands today. Alexander’s 22 touchdowns in a career has been tied twice but remains unbroken. Alexander’s 89-yard touchdown in the 1972 Panda Game remains the longest passing play and touchdown in Panda Game history for either school.

That 89-yard touchdown pass in the 1972 Panda Game actually set the career touchdown record. The clip below is from the October 23rd Ottawa Journal.

So relatively speaking, he ended up shattering the old mark when he reached 22. That the record has not been broken since speaks for itself.  

"Ravens Announce Six Local Recruits"

OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens football team is proud to announce they have added six local recruits for the 2022 season.

The six local recruits from the Ottawa-Gatineau region mark the first players announced ahead of the team’s ninth season since their return to OUA competition in 2013.

The Ravens have added defensive back Alex Boily, linebackers Andrew Christie and Ethan Boxall, offensive lineman Noah Fahey and wide receivers Daniel Sheehan and Nicholas Cerquozzi.

Defensive back Alex Boily joins the Ravens from Franco-Cité High School and the North Gloucester Giants. Boily grew up attending Ravens games and looks forward to the rush from Canada’s loudest and proudest fans this fall.

Andrew Christie of the North Gloucester Giants (NCAFA) was named to the All Ontario Community All Star team and was the leagues Top Defensive Player. A physical linebacker, Christie has the ability to make plays all over the field.

Sheehan joins the program from the highly successful John Abbott College Islanders team who were the 2017 and 2019 RSEQ Div 2 winners. A wide receiver, Sheehan had 22 catches for 300 yards in 2021.

Receiver Nicholas Cerquozzi joins the Ravens from the St. Marks Lions where he was voted 1st Team All-Star in the OHSFL. An incoming business student, Cerquozzi is a fast, twitchy slot receiver who will look to prove himself at the university level.

Rounding out the Ravens recruiting class are linebacker Ethan Boxall and offensive lineman Noah Fahey. Boxall and Fahey join the program from the Nepean Broncos and Holy Trinity Tornadoes but have long been members of the Carleton community. Both players are second-generation Ravens following in the footsteps of their fathers who played for the Ravens during their times at Carleton.

Sept. 7th, 2008: "Sacobie Racks Up Record in Rout"

2008 Gee-Gees results are being added and since a significant record was set in the second game of the season, I wanted to dedicate a post specific to it. 

"Ravens Name Corey Grant as the New Head Coach"

OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens are proud to announce Corey Grant as the new head coach of the Carleton Ravens football team. Grant becomes the 14th head coach in the history of the Ravens varsity football program.

Grant joins the Ravens from the McMaster Marauders where he has served as the assistant coach and offensive coordinator since 2019. In addition to his role with the football team, Grant was also an Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Lead within McMaster’s Department of Athletics and Recreation. Prior to joining the Marauders, Grant spent six years coaching with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats where he served in various roles including assistant offensive coordinator.

Over the past two seasons with the Marauders, Grant’s offences were consistently ranked at the top of the OUA in total offence, passing yards and first downs. In 2019 Grant and the Marauders won the Yates Cup as OUA champions.

...

A former teacher with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Grant holds a Master of Science in Education and his teaching certification from Canisius College, along with a Bachelor of Arts, Sociology from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Prior to his career in coaching, Grant had an 11-year CFL career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders. A two-time Grey Cup Champion, Grant was named the 1999 Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year after being drafted 7th overall in the 1999 CFL Draft.

In addition to his extensive football resume, Grant has a lengthy resume of community work, including being the Co-Chair of the OUA Black Biracial Indigenous Committee (BBI), Assistant Director of the Black Canadian Coaches Association, Chair of the Hamilton Black History Council, and the Founder of the Black Football Coaches of Canada, among many other highlights. His community leadership also includes having developed the OUA’s United Against Racism campaign idea and the Football Coaching Apprenticeship for Women at McMaster University.