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Devin Grant’s mind went blank. At the moment, he couldn’t hear himself think.

With Syracuse tied against then-No. 8 Miami late in the 2024 regular-season finale, Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward dished a screen pass to wide receiver Xavier Restrepo. Grant emerged from his safety spot and landed a right-handed punch.

Seconds later, the Orange held their first lead of the game.

“The ball popped up like God handed it to me out of the heaven gates himself,” Grant said. “I saw nothing but green grass, and I just said, ‘Hey, it’s time to go home.’”

Grant hit a trifecta, forcing the fumble, corralling the ball off the turf and returning it 56 yards for a touchdown. The game-changing play helped Syracuse to a 42-38 win over Miami for its biggest win of the Fran Brown era.

Nearly a year later, SU faces the Hurricanes for the first time since. This contest comes under much different circumstances, as the Orange look to snap a five-game losing streak. But Grant remains a fixture of the team with his big-play style.

The scoop-and-score was a microcosm of it. When Grant’s on the field, it’s showtime.

“People was just like, ‘You make plays on the field, you show out on the field, so we’re gonna call you Showtime,’” Grant said of his nickname. “They called me that and then I was like, ‘That’s fire.’ So I put it on the chain, and it’s been going from there.”

The moniker was first attached to Grant at Buffalo. It evolved into his social media persona, and matches his off-field personality, too. To fellow SU safety Cornell Perry, it’s self-explanatory. Whenever Grant walks into a room, everyone knows it.

When he flipped the Miami game on its head, no one realized it at first. Perry watched from the sidelines, bummed the Hurricanes moved the sticks. Grant’s father, Jay, glared up at the Jumbotron from the first row of section 107 with the rest of his family. Suddenly, Grant was headed straight for them.

As he looked forward at the end zone with Ward on his tail, Grant had no choice. He couldn’t get caught.

Grant’s mother, Stephanie Blake, thought he might’ve stepped out. But her son was running right to her. Once Jay realized his son had the ball, he flashed back to when Grant was young. “Come to Daddy,” he repeated in his head. Grant did just that, running to his family after diving into the endzone.

“That’s the type of play they make up in the movies,” Perry said.

“That was 100% Devin,” added Tim Smith, Grant’s coach at Holy Cross High School (New York).

Ilyan Sarech | Design Editor

Grant didn’t truly understand what happened until he reached the sidelines. The adrenaline took over to hide the pain.

Weeks before the regular-season finale, Grant felt a jolt in his knee in practice. It was a torn meniscus and sprained MCL. His first question to SU’s medical staff was whether he could still play. Once he realized he could, it didn’t matter.

He was gonna make a play. Like he always has.

Before becoming “Showtime,” Grant was known — and is still known around New York City — as “The Franchise.” He deviated from the nickname at Syracuse because Brown also held it. Though at just 4 years old, Grant’s godfather, Jason Brown, bestowed it upon him. As his grandmother, Lisa Neil, remembers, Brown viewed Grant as a future franchise player.

While other kids put LEGOs and video games on their Christmas lists, Grant wished for shoulder pads and a helmet. Sitting in his high chair at an even earlier age, he watched sporting events with his father. The viewing later evolved into watching compilations of the NFL’s hardest-hitting plays, featuring Ronnie Lott, Lawrence Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Kam Chancellor. When Jay yelled, “Ronnie,” Grant knew his next move.

Grant also had some family footsteps to follow. He grew up watching his uncle, Dean Marlowe, play high school football at Holy Cross and college ball at James Madison. Once Marlowe cracked the Carolina Panthers’ roster, Grant traveled with his grandmother to Super Bowl 50 to see Marlowe’s squad face the Denver Broncos.

Years later, as Marlowe explores college coaching, the two text weekly to check in. A former safety, Marlowe knows what it takes to play at the highest level. He’s seen Grant’s evolution.

“Devin’s been a kid who thrived off the big stage,” Marlowe said. “If it was tackle football in the backyard, he wanted a whole audience.”

Following one season at Sewanhaka High School, Grant moved to the same school his uncle once played at. Smith knew Grant since he was “in his mother’s arms,” and watched him play football since he was around 6 years old. At Holy Cross, Grant shone primarily as a quarterback and safety. Smith said he even could’ve played receiver in college due to his 6-foot-4 frame.

Grant’s freak athleticism also stretched across sports. On the basketball court, he led the Knights in scoring his senior year. In baseball, he was a starter. But he always prioritized football. That would remain beyond high school.

Before coming to Syracuse, Devin Grant excelled for Holy Cross High School. Grant played all over the field for Holy Cross, including quarterback. Courtesy of Stephanie Blake

While searching for a college, Grant worked out for Syracuse. The Orange — then under Dino Babers’ staff — “blew it” in Smith’s eyes, not extending an offer. A nearby school became the right match.

When Marlowe was recruited out of Holy Cross, he connected with Maurice Linguist, then James Madison’s safeties coach. Linguist held many other roles in the past, including the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive backs coach.

The relationship continued on, proving pivotal after Linguist became Buffalo’s head coach. When Grant was working out at a camp, he caught Linguist’s attention. According to Jay, Linguist described Grant as a “gazelle.” Smith then told Linguist that Grant was Marlowe’s nephew. Linguist connected with Grant’s family, and after receiving an offer and taking an official visit, Grant committed.

From the beginning of his time at Buffalo, Grant stuck out. His position coach, Brandon Bailey, said Grant possessed a subconscious radar for critical moments, where his instincts maximized his talent. Bailey admitted, however, that he didn’t play Grant enough as a freshman. He didn’t earn a start until the Camellia Bowl, but then came his breakout.

As a sophomore, Grant appeared in all 12 of the Bulls’ games and earned First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors. His five interceptions ranked sixth nationally, and when Linguist departed for Alabama’s defensive backs job, Grant hit the transfer portal.

Blake wasn’t totally on board with the decision. She was nervous because her son was thriving and already had a Division I scholarship. But Grant asked her to believe in him.

The family was on its way to an official visit at Florida, but newly-minted Syracuse staffers Elijah Robinson and Robert Wright flew to see Grant first. Wright, previously Buffalo’s defensive coordinator, already knew Grant. The two reconnected and Grant decided to stay in-state again, this time with the Orange.

While recovering from his torn MCL, Syracuse defensive back Devin Grant signs autographs at the Holiday Bowl. Grant missed the game but finished the season with an interception and three forced fumbles. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor

Fast-forward to the end of his junior campaign. Grant started 10 games at safety for SU. His play against Miami was program-defining, ushering in a new era under Brown. But he had a knee to repair.

Blake said the medical staff wanted to perform Grant’s surgery just two days after the game. However, she wanted to be in Syracuse for the surgery and postoperative recovery. So, she went home to New York City, filled out the paperwork with the NYPD to take a month-long leave of absence and returned to Syracuse. Grant then underwent surgery, missing the Holiday Bowl but traveling with the team.

Grant knew he needed time to heal. So, he took a backseat in the spring.

“That was a story in itself,” Grant said of his injury recovery. “Those hard times, you look back at them and the person that they made me today, you’ve got to be thankful for it.”

Grant said he feels more comfortable in his second year at Syracuse. He thinks he’s more vocal, as many of SU’s top defenders from 2024 departed. But it hasn’t been easy for him physically.

A high-ankle sprain sidelined him against UConn and Colgate. Brown said Grant came back early from the injury and reaggravated it. The safety has still excelled when it mattered most.

In Syracuse’s first-ever win at Clemson, Grant set the tone with a team-high 10 tackles. Against North Carolina, he forced a fumble to produce SU’s sole touchdown of the night. Even through the Orange’s struggles, Grant shines brightest under the lights.

In the hours after last season’s Miami game, Grant’s phone “blew up” with messages about his performance. He had to silence it to go to bed. Almost a year later, he still sees videos of the play on his TikTok feed. He wouldn’t want it any other way.

To Grant, it’s one of the best plays of his life and one of the best feelings he’s ever experienced. It’s who he is now. And who he’s always been.

“If you have a nickname, you’ve got to live by it,” Neil said.

Photos by Aaron Hammer | Staff Photographer, courtesy of Stephanie Blake

Published on November 5, 2025 at 9:15 pm
Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky