NFL

Giants DB Grant seeks revenge vs. high school rival

Deon Grant has done something no other Giants player has: lose to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

That’s not something he is eager to brag about, and it’s one reason he has extra incentive going into next week’s Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

“I’ve got so many motivations,” Grant said yesterday.

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First on the list was Carolina’s 32-29 loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII following the 2003 season, when Grant played for the Panthers. Another reason is that he’s trying to exact revenge on one of the Patriots’ top receivers: Deion Branch.

Grant calls Branch “a close, close friend of mine.” Their history dates to high school in Georgia. Grant went to T.W. Josey High School in Augusta, and Branch attended Monroe High School in Albany. Advantage, Grant.

“I spanked him in high school and won the state. And it’s seemed like ever since I got in the league, he’s been paying me back,” Grant said. “Me and him talk a lot and I told him, ‘This year I’m gonna pay you back.’

“He beat me in the Super Bowl and then I was in Jacksonville, he would put me out of the playoffs. He’s been paying me back ever since we got in the league. I’ve got a lot of reasons and things why I have great motivation for this game.”

Of all the Giants on the roster, Grant might also be the one who most likely faces his last chance to win a championship. The 32-year-old is the team’s second-oldest player behind 33-year-old Lawrence Tynes. And Grant, in his 12th season, has the most NFL experience of any player in the organization.

Grant said he does not think about how much longer he wants to play. He said he believes he still can produce, he still loves it and he still is having fun. And he also had full confidence that the Giants could make this title push, never doubting whether a Super Bowl run was going to happen for him again.

“I feel like we’re going to win the Super Bowl here,” he said. “That’s the main reason why I came back. I felt [that] as soon as the season was over last year.”

The Giants haven’t gone all the way yet, but Grant was right to have faith. And for a lot of reasons, he’s motivated.