Friday Features: UWA's Mark Grant learning lessons from both his college sports
By Mike Perrin
Junior
Mark Grant could become the all-time leading scorer in University of
West Alabama football history this season. Or, he could miss the entire year recovering from a severe groin injury.
Lessons he’s learned as a two-sport star at UWA are paying dividends during the trying time he’s spending on the sidelines as his teammates battle to stay in the race for the Gulf South Conference championship. Grant was first-team All-GSC as a freshman place-kicker. He’s also team captain for the
West Alabama Collegiate Bass Team.
“Fishing and football have both taught me many lessons, but patience, confidence, and perseverance stand out as the top three,” he said. “Kicking has ups and downs, it’s important to stay positive through it all and believe that you’re going to make every kick.
“Fishing is like that, too. All it takes is one cast to change your day completely. You just have to maintain a positive mental attitude and fish as hard as you can until the day is over. Never give up, no matter how bleak things look. That’s something that I have learned the true meaning of through kicking and fishing.”
Bleak was Grant’s prognosis following an injury he suffered while working on kickoffs during spring drills at UWA. The groin injury wouldn’t mend, the 5-foot-7, 160-pounder from Panama City, Fla., said.
“After four months of slow progress, an MRI revealed that I had torn part of my groin muscle off the bone,” he said. “I had surgery to repair it and go to treatment twice a day to recover. I hope to play some this season. I’m not sure what will happen, to be honest, but I expect to kick some this season.”
Grant won’t have to kick much to become the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer. He needs only five points to pass Mitch Warfield’s record 180 points, set from 2005-08. He is just one PAT behind Ryne Smith’s 177 points from 2011-12.
“It feels great to be so close to the scoring record,” Grant said, “but it’s rather tormenting to not be able to step on the field to earn it.
“Not being able to play has been very hard on me. I still come to all required practices and do what I can. I can be on the sidelines during home games, but I prefer to sit with my family who still come to support me. I get a better view and I can still show my support. It also helps me keep kicking stats to get a good view.”
Grant came to football from soccer as a youngster because, he said, there was more of an opportunity to earn college scholarship money as a place-kicker. He came to Livingston for a couple of reasons.
“The potential to win conference championships brought me to UWA, and I do have two conference rings from my first two years,” he said. “Also, the outdoors and fishing around Livingston is incredible.”
Fishing on the collegiate level was a bonus. “West Alabama didn’t have a fishing team when I first came here, nor had I heard any talk of one,” Grant said. “My fishing background goes back to fishing with my dad for panfish in ponds a bit, but mostly inshore fishing in the bays around Panama City. I really became good at that in my last few years in Panama City. I still like to get down there and get into redfish and trout when I can.”
Grant is seriously good at bass fishing, too, and he started putting his skills to work for UWA as a sophomore after the club came into existence during his freshman year.
His top catches? “My biggest redfish on the flats was 30 inches, and my biggest trout was 26,” he said. “I have caught redfish in open water that went well over 30 inches, though. Finding fish isn't hard for me down there, I always find numbers, but finding a few big bites can be tough from time to time.”
Lake LU (pronounced El Yoo) is a 54-acre lake that opened on campus at UWA in 1976 and offers students a great spot to fish. Grant loves the place.
“My biggest bass was 10 pounds, 5 ounces from Lake LU. Lake LU is just a truly incredible fishery,” he said. “I couldn’t count how many bass I’ve caught that weighed between 6 and 10 pounds from it. Our bass team has a blast out there.
“My biggest bass on public waters is a 6-pound-7-ounce bass on Lake Guntersville and a 6-pound-4-ounce on Nottely Lake in north Georgia.”
His biggest kick is yet to come – he hopes.
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