Grant Wistrom
Encyclopedia
Grant Alden Wistrom, is a former American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

 who played for the St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

 and Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

 during his 9 year career. In addition to his athletic pursuits, Grant has established the Grant Wistrom Foundation, a charitable organization for pediatric cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 patients and their families.

High school

Grant began his football career in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, where he played for the Webb City High School
Webb City High School (Missouri)
Webb City High School, or WCHS, is a public high school in the Webb City R-7 located in Webb City, Missouri USA.-Location and campus:The school's campus, located at 621 North Madison, Webb City, Missouri is currently housed in a one-story structure originally built in 1968. It was expanded in...

 football team, the Cardinals, as a defensive end and tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

. While at Webb City, he was chosen as a first-team All America selection by Super Prep, Blue chip and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

. He also earned Top 100 Honors from Scholastic Coach Magazine.
His statistics on the field include:
  • As a defensive end: 122 tackles, eight sacks, six fumble recoveries, nine forced fumbles and a blocked punt
  • As a tight end: caught 30 passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 11 times for 115 yards and three touchdowns
  • Led the team to two class 4A championships


Grant also played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and competed in track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

.

College

Following his All-American performance as a Cardinal, Grant was heavily recruited by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he helped anchor the Husker defensive line. During his career, the Huskers compiled a 49-2 record from 1994 to 1997, winning three national titles in that span (1994, 1995, and 1997). A two-time first-team All-American, Wistrom became Nebraska's fourth Lombardi Award
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The Lombardi Award program was approved by the Rotary Club in Houston in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi. The committee outlined the criteria for eligibility for the award, which...

 winner as the nation's top lineman following the 1997 season.

As a senior captain, the 6-5, 255-pound Wistrom finished with 51 tackles, including 8.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss, leading the Blackshirts in both categories on his way to earning Big 12 Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors. A finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player-of-the-Year award, Wistrom helped the Huskers rank fifth nationally in total defense and second nationally against the run. He led Nebraska to a perfect 13-0 record and a share of the national title with Michigan. He was also a consensus All-American
1997 College Football All-America Team
The 1997 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and Football News....

.

In 1996, Wistrom was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, helping NU to top-10 rankings in all four major defensive categories. A first-team All-American
1996 College Football All-America Team
The 1996 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and Football News....

 and finalist for the Nagurski Award. Wistrom finished third on the team in tackles with 75. while leading the Huskers in both sacks (9.5-48 yards lost) and tackles for loss (20-74).

A third-team All-American as a sophomore. Wistrom recorded 44 stops, including a team-leading 15 tackles for loss, as Nebraska went 12-0 and repeated as national champions. He also had four sacks, earning first-team All-Big Eight honors as NU ranked second nationally against the rush, fourth in points allowed and 13th in total defense. During his freshman campaign, Wistrom made his presence known, earning Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year honors in helping the Huskers to their first national title since 1971. He played in all 13 games, recording 36 stops and 4.5 sacks, as one of only two true Husker freshmen to see playing time.

Wistrom holds the school record for tackles for loss with 58.5 for 260 yards and ranks second with 26.5 sacks, had his No. 98 jersey retired during the 1998 season. His career totals include 206 total tackles, 26.5 sacks for 178 yards, one interception, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Wistrom was a two-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American and became the 13th Husker to win the NCAA's highest honor, the NCAA Top Eight Award, in 1997. He also earned the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Postgraduate Scholarship following his senior campaign and was the Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year for the 1997-98 season.
Honors include:
  • College Football Hall of Fame
    College Football Hall of Fame
    The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

     member (2009)
  • Voted as DE on the All-Time Cornhusker team
  • Recipient of the Lombardi Award
    Lombardi Award
    The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The Lombardi Award program was approved by the Rotary Club in Houston in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi. The committee outlined the criteria for eligibility for the award, which...

    , given to nation's top collegiate lineman (1997)
  • Recipient of the Bill Willis Award winner, given to nations top defensive lineman (1997)
  • Consensus All-America 1996
    1996 College Football All-America Team
    The 1996 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and Football News....

    , 1997
    1996 College Football All-America Team
    The 1996 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and Football News....

  • All-Big 12 Conference First-Team (1996, 1997)
  • Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (1996, 1997)
  • Consensus Academic All-America (1996, 1997)
  • Academic All-Big 12 honors (1996, 1997)
  • Earned third-team all-America honors by Associated Press
    Associated Press
    The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

     and first-team all-Big Eight Conference
    Big Eight Conference
    The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...

     honors sophomore season (1995)
  • Selected as Newcomer of the Year by Big Eight conference freshman
    Freshman
    A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...

     season (1994)

Pre-draft

Grant, considered a “high energy player who is both durable and versatile and good against the run and pass”, Even after gaining 15 pounds to his frame Wistrom ran a personal best 4.61 40-yard dash at the University of Nebraska NFL pro day. Wistrom measured 6'4⅞ and 273 pounds at his pro day workout.

St. Louis Rams

Wistrom was selected by the St Louis Rams as the sixth overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft
1998 NFL Draft
The 1998 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18-19, 1998...

. On July 25, 1998, Wistrom signed a 6-year, $12.765 million contract that included a $6 million signing bonus.

1998: Played in 13 games on defense and special teams and finished season with 30 tackles, three sacks, one fumble recovery and five special teams tackles and was named Rams Defensive Rookie of the Year by coaches.

1999: Started all 16 regular season and three playoff games at right defensive end and was selected to 1999 All-Madden team by Fox Sports announcer John Madden
John Madden (American football)
John Earl Madden is a former American professional football player in the National Football League, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and later the NFL, and a former color commentator for NFL telecasts. In 2006, he was inducted into...

 while setting career highs in tackles (60), sacks (6.5), interceptions (two), interception returns for touchdown (two), passes defensed (seven), and one fumble recovery. Grant tied for team lead with two interceptions returned for touchdown.

2000: Started 16 games at right defensive end and had career year, registering career-bests in tackles (71), sacks (11), and had 29 quarterback pressures, four passes defensed and one forced fumble, tying for seventh in NFC in sacks.

2001: Had best season of career with recording a new career-highs with 96 tackles (47 solo) and two forced fumbles, and tied career bests with two interceptions and one fumble recovery. He finished second on the team with 9 sacks and had three passes defensed and 19 quarterback pressures and was 10th in NFC in sacks. In post-season action, he finished fifth on team with career-high 19 postseason tackles (11 solo) and second on club with two sacks.

2002: Played in 15 games with 14 starts. Finished season with another career-high 97 tackles (43 solo), including four for loss and also tallied 4.5 sacks, one interception, three passes defensed, one forced fumble, and career-high two fumble recoveries.

2003: Started all 16 regular season games and one postseason game for the Rams. Recorded career-high 108 tackles (57 solo) with 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery and four passes defensed.

Seattle Seahawks

After six seasons, including two Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 appearances and one Super Bowl win, with the St. Louis Rams, Grant became a free agent. On March 4, 2004 he signed a 6-year $33 million contract that (included a $14 million signing bonus) with the Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

.

2004: Started all nine games he played. Suffered knee injury at New England (10/17/2004) and was forced to miss weeks 7-10. Returned to play four games before reinjuring knee and missed final three games and Wild Card Playoff Game. Finished the season with 38 total tackles (27 solo), 3.5 sacks, four passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

2005: Started all 16 regular season games. Finished the season with 52 tackles (41 solo), 4.0 sacks and 6 passes defensed, the second most he'd ever recorded.

2006: Started all 16 regular season games (the fifth time in his 9 year professional career). Finished the season with 37 tackles (30 solo), 4.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed. However, he played only 56 percent of the downs because of injuries and the arrival of pass-rushing linebacker Julian Peterson
Julian Peterson
Julian Thomas Peterson is a free agent linebacker in the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan State...

 in free agency. Peterson replaced Wistrom as the right end in passing situations. As a result, Wistrom had the fewest tackles since his rookie season with the Rams.

Wistrom was released after the 2006 season
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

 after the Seahawks asked Wistrom to restructure his contract to reduce the $3.5 million salary he was due in 2007. The other option was being released, and Wistrom decided to go that route and later retired. Wistrom had collected $21 million of his free agent contract in those three seasons.

In 2007 Wistrom became an assistant football coach at Parkview High School
Parkview High School (Springfield, Missouri)
Parkview High School is a public high school located in Springfield, Missouri. Parkview was the second high school built in Springfield after Central High School. Parkview graduated its first class in 1957. The next year a new wing was constructed due to the large number students enrolling. In 1992...

 in Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...

, where his brother is the principal. They went 0-12. Wistrom then retired from coaching, citing "hatred of filling the water coolers" as his reason for leaving.

Charity work

The Grant Wistrom Foundation, created in July of 2002, strives to allow pediatric cancer patients opportunities to just be children. At a Foundation event they are able to connect with other children who understand their world as both a child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...

 and a patient, fostering friendships built on these common bonds.
The plight of young oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...

 patients was brought to Grant’s attention during his senior year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, when he befriended a young Husker fan with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 from his home state of Missouri. To help prepare the child for the loss of his hair during treatment
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....

, Grant, and Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 teammates Jason Peter
Jason Peter
Jason Michael Peter is a retired American football player. Peter was an All-American defensive tackle his senior year at the University of Nebraska and was taken in the first round by the Carolina Panthers in the 1998 NFL Draft. His career was shortened by a recurring and chronic neck stinger...

 and Jared Tomich
Jared Tomich
Jared James Tomich is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. Tomich went to high school at Lake Central High School where he led his team to the 1993 state championship game. Lake Central recently retired his number. Tomich played college football for the...

, included Kendall in their pre-game ritual of shaving their heads and presented him with an honorary blackshirt jersey.

The Grant Wistrom Foundation consists of four programs:

Circle of Friends: The Circle of Friends experience begins with a four day Wisconsin winter trip that brings together 40 pediatric oncology patients from 9 U.S. Cities. They enjoy skiing, tubing, disco bowling and snowmobiling, along with discussing the latest fashion trends and the newest music to hit the charts. For many of the participants these new friendships offer encouragement and support as they navigate through their course of recovery. Every two years the group is reunited on a summer trip where new adventures await them. Fellow Seattle Seahawk Jerry Wunsch
Jerry Wunsch
Gerald Wunsch is a former offensive tackle and offensive guard in the NFL. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks. He played college ball at Wisconsin. Jerry played high school football at Wausau West High School....

, Brian Young
Brian Young (American football)
Brian Young is a former American football defensive tackle who played for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League...

 of the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....

, Rich Coady
Rich Coady
Richard Joseph Coady, IV is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League. His father Richard Coady played in the NFL for the Chicago Bears.-High school years:...

 of the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

, Jared Tomich
Jared Tomich
Jared James Tomich is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. Tomich went to high school at Lake Central High School where he led his team to the 1993 state championship game. Lake Central recently retired his number. Tomich played college football for the...

 of the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

 and Chris Kelsay
Chris Kelsay
Christopher Kelsay is an American football outside linebacker who currently plays for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft and was the 6th defensive end selected in the draft. He played collegiately at...

 of the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 join Grant in hosting these events.

Local Outreach: The Foundation supports a number of events that have included, Kids Only Day at a Family Fun Center, a VIP Game Day party, Mom’s Spa Day and a Dad’s Mariners game outing.

Section 98: The Foundation donates ten tickets for each home Seahawks game to pediatric oncology patients and their families so that they may enjoy the Seahawks experience. Each guest receives a t-shirt and a pre game meal.

Charities for Children: The Foundation actively supports various children’s organizations through financial and/or merchandise donations in Washington, Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

In addition to the work of his own Foundation, Grant continues to support the work of the Seattle Seahawks Community Outreach program

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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