Two More Delaware Football Standouts Join NFL Camps as Grant, Marcorelle Sign Free Agent Contracts
August 2, 2011
File Photos Courtesy of Dan Cook (Grant) and Mark Campbell (Marcorelle)
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NEWARK, Del. -- The number of former University of Delaware football players in National Football League camps increased by two over the weekend as cornerback Tyrone Grant (top right) was signed by the Washington Redskins and defensive end/linebacker Matt Marcorelle (bottom right) inked a deal with the Houston Texans.
Grant and Marcorelle join fellow rookies Pat Devlin (Miami), Anthony Bratton (Green Bay), Anthony Walters (Chicago), and Josh Baker (New York Jets) who signed deals early last week.
Other former Blue Hens in camps this summer are veterans Joe Flacco (Baltimore), Mike Adams (Cleveland), and Ben Patrick (New York Giants). Patrick, who played last season with Arizona, signed a deal with the Giants on Monday. All NFL training camps have begun in preparation for the start of the NFL season during the second week of September.
Defensive end Ronald Talley, who played for the Blue Hens in 2007 and 2008 and was released by Green Bay in 2009, is in the Arizona Cardinals camp this summer.
Grant and Marcorelle each earned All-Colonial Athletic Association honors in 2010 when they led the Blue Hens to a record of 12-3, a share of the CAA title, and a berth in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision title game for head coach K.C. Keeler. They also anchored a defense that led the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 12.1 points per game, and ranked fifth in total defense, allowing 280.7 yards per game.
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Grant, a 5-9, 175 lb. cornerback from Savannah, Ga. (Poly Prep Country Day High School), becomes the third member of the Blue Hens’ 2010 defensive secondary to join an NFL camp this summer. He hooks on with a Redskins club that is looking to improve upon a record of 6-10 in 2010 when the team ranked near the bottom of nearly every defensive statistical category under head coach Mike Shanahan.
Marcorelle, a 6-2, 250 lb. end/linebacker from Fort Pierce, Fla. (John Carroll High School), joins a Texans squad that also posted a 6-10 record in 2010 when the team ranked near the bottom of most defensive statistical categories. The Texans are led by head coach Gary Kubiak.
A co-captain on the 2010 squad, Grant earned second team All-CAA honors after starting all 15 games at cornerback and collecting 81 tackles (41 solo stops), three tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, and five interceptions. A three-year starter, he finished his career with 171 tackles (111 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups, and seven interceptions. He is the only player in UD history to return three interceptions for touchdowns in a career.
The only six-year team member and four-year captain in Delaware athletics history, Marcorelle capped his outstanding, but injury-plagued, career in 2010 by playing in 14 games with 12 starts and ranking fifth on the squad with 83 tackles, including 40 solo stops. He also led the team with 10.5 tackles for loss while also recording an interception and two pass breakups on his way to earning second team All-CAA honors.
A three-time All-CAA selection and a 2007 All-American, he played in a school record 53 career games with 48 starts for the Blue Hens and registered 240 tackles (135 solo), 40 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, seven pass breakups, and seven forced fumbles. He ranks No. 3 all-time at Delaware in forced fumbles, No. 4 in tackles for loss, and No. 11 in sacks.
