Garrett Grayson brought back more from Thibodaux, Louisiana than what he went there for.
The Colorado State quarterback attended the Manning Passing Academy this summer, and in just four days developed a similar swagger to the one that runs in football’s first family. He has returned this fall noticeably more mature – you should see it in the way he addresses the media.
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His answers are often capped off with a “yes, sir” or “no, sir” as he responds to a room full of reporters, sometimes even dressed in a suit and tie. It bears a striking resemblance to the way Peyton stands on the podium at Dove Valley and holds his composure in front of the frenzy that demands to know everything.
Grayson has grown up. It shows in both his numbers and personality.
With nine games left in a Rams uniform, likely more if CSU plays the way it should and reaches the postseason, he’s on track to go down as one of the best to play the position at this school.
But the best part is that I’m convinced he doesn’t really care. For the third straight week, Grayson has stuck to his team over individual performance mentality. No matter if his statements are true or not, they’re amazingly consistent.
“All I know is at the end of the day, I’d rather play like I did last week and win a football game than put up those yards like I did this week and lose. A loss is a loss in my book, so I don’t really care what I did,” he said after CSU’s road loss at Boise State.
The tone in his voice was sad, regardless of throwing for a career-high 434 yards and three touchdowns. The Rams had lost.
“It’s all about winning for me. At the end of the day, if I played terrible like I did in the first half against CU and we win the football game, that’s really all I care about,” he said Saturday after CSU’s home victory over UC Davis.
The tone in his voice was happy, regardless of throwing for 425 yards and four touchdowns. The Rams had won.
At multiple points over this season, Grayson will shatter some important records and surpass big milestones. But CSU will also have to pick up a win in each of those contests, otherwise he’s not going to get too excited about it.
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His newly-acquired humility won’t allow him to.
Collegian Sports Columnist Quentin Sickafoose can be reached at qsickafoose@collegian.com and on Twitter @QSickafoose.