He knew the play was designed to go his way when the huddle broke, so Grant Calcaterra felt a little something extra on the opening play of third quarter of Sunday's game at FedEx Field. Calcaterra lined up on the left side of the formation and ran a crossing route, turned, and saw Jalen Hurts' pass thrown perfectly. Calcaterra made the catch, made a man miss, and turned upfield for another big chunk of yardage. Welcome to the NFL, kid. First-and-10 after that 40-yard gain.
"It was super exciting," Calcaterra said on Wednesday from his NovaCare Complex locker. "Obviously, before the play, I knew the play call and I was just kind of going out there and doing my job. It was a big catch and I was able to make a guy miss. That being my first one, it was exciting and afterwards I was pretty psyched. I smacked Coach (Nick) Sirianni's hand pretty hard, so yeah, it was a lot of fun."
A sixth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Calcaterra dressed for the first time on Sunday and he made the most of his 17 offensive snaps. Given everything that Calcaterra has been through in his football playing career – stepping away from the game after three seasons at Oklahoma due to a series of concussions only to return to play at SMU in 2021 – and then to work his way into the NFL Draft, only to suffer a hamstring injury in his first Training Camp, he was going to realize the significance of the moment.
He's in the NFL. He's on a 3-0 team. And in his first game in uniform, Calcaterra made a contribution to the team's victory and showed, in the process, that he was ready for the moment.
"That's the biggest thing, because they always say you have to be ready when your number is called, and it's true," he said. "This is a business and everyone is here to do his job, so really I felt like I was just going out there and doing my job. You learn right away that this is a business, so that's just the way it is. Obviously, I had the crazy deal in college and then I came here and faced more adversity. I just kept my head down and kept working hard, kept trusting the process, and trusting my coaches and doing everything I could to get ready.
"All of that work, I felt paid off for me."
September 29, 2022 at 07:56AM
https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/grant-calcaterra-all-of-that-hard-work-paid-off-for-me
Grant Calcaterra: 'All of that hard work paid off for me' - PhiladelphiaEagles.com
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