John Grant Jr., who announced his retirement from Major League Lacrosse in April, also has played his last National Lacrosse League game. The NLL’s No. 2 all-time scorer made it official Monday.
Grant, who had overcome numerous injuries throughout his long playing career, told his hometown newspaper in Peterborough, Ontario, that the lingering effects of a concussion he sustained while playing for the Colorado Mammoth in January were enough to convince him to call it quits. He is 42.
“I love my family, and I love lacrosse,” Grant said in a press release issued by the Mammoth. “The game has given so much to me. It’s bittersweet to accept that my playing career is over, but I can retire knowing that I’ve given the sport and the people who support it everything I had. Thank you to the Rochester Knighthawks for drafting me, and to the Colorado Mammoth for keeping me in the game into my forties. I’m unbelievably lucky and eternally grateful for having the chance to live out my dream as a professional lacrosse player.”
Grant lives in Denver and is a full-time lacrosse coach at Valor Christian School as well as an offensive coordinator for MLL’s Denver Outlaws. The left-handed forward scored his 500th and 600th career goals in a Mammoth uniform, and reached the 1,000-point plateau with the team while becoming a fixture in the Colorado lacrosse community. He won his second NLL MVP award with the Mammoth in 2012, setting the then-NLL single-season record with 116 points.
Grant, a nine-time All-Pro, finished his career second in NLL history in goals (668) and points (1,446), and fifth in assists (778). In just six-plus seasons with Colorado, he rewrote the record books and now steps away as the team’s all-time leader in goals (235), and finishes second in both assists (317) and points (552).