Grant Calcaterra Returns to Football, Enters Transfer Portal

After a career marred by concussions, former Sooner tight end stepped away from the game to be a firefighter, but now wants to play college football somewhere else

John E. Hoover | Aug 16, 2020

Grant Calcaterra Returns to Football, Enters Transfer Portal /

Former Oklahoma tight end Grant Calcaterra delivered a shocking announcement on Saturday.

Calcaterra, who stepped away from the game because of lingering and repeated concussions, said on Twitter he’ll be returning to football — but it won’t be at Oklahoma.

“This is something that I’ve been thinking about since the day I stepped away,” he wrote. “I owed myself the time to reflect on the best decision for me.”

That decision will not involve Oklahoma football, which apparently made Calcaterra’s decision to return even harder.

“I have nothing bur love and respect for the University of Oklahoma,” he wrote. “I have nothing but great memories and better relationships.

“I’m a Sooner for life.”

Calcaterra thanked Lincoln Riley and Cale Gundy and “all my coaches … teammates, staff members, friends, supporters, fans and everyone I’ve. Been lucky enough to cross paths with in my time in Oklahoma. It’s been an absolute blessing.”

Grant Calcaterra and his family on Senior Night / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Last November, Calcaterra even went through Senior Night activities on Owen Field.

Calcaterra hails from Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, where he played at Santa Margarita Catholic High School.

The 6-foot-4, 233-pound Calcaterra played in just 20 games in three years as a Sooner, catching 41 passes for 637 yards and nine touchdowns. Renowned for making the difficult grab, his highlights included a spectacular game-clinching touchdown catch from Kyler Murray with two minutes to play in the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game against Texas.

Grant Calcaterra's one-handed game-clincher over Texas' B.J. Foster / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

That 2018 season was Calcaterra’s best. He caught 26 passes for 396 yards and six TDs. He was a preseason All-Big 12 tight end in 2019, but a lack of action in the first three games (he caught just five passes for 79 yards) and a second concussion two days before playing the Longhorns in October cost him the rest of the season.

In December, Calcaterra announced his retirement because of multiple concussions, then held an emotional press conference.

Only a day before announcing he was coming back to football, Calcaterra posted a photo wearing his three Big 12 championship rings.

They ain’t participation rings either #5PEAT pic.twitter.com/BsPhMi35Si
— Grant Calcaterra (@grcalcaterra) August 14, 2020

Perhaps having all three rings on at once stoked something smoldering inside Calcaterra.

“Ultimately,” Calcaterra wrote, “my love and passion for the game and my desire to accomplish my goals are the reason for my return.

“It means something different when you’ve been without game. By any means necessary, I’m back. And I’m better.”

Published Aug 16, 2020

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.