Gragert, a former Logger, rolls on

There was no phone call from any of the 32 NFL teams during the league’s annual draft earlier this month or any contact afterwards, for that matter, regarding any sort of free-agent deal.

But that’s OK with Jordan Gragert.

He wasn’t expecting to hear from any of them.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive guard at Colorado State University had already made his decision regarding his football future.

“I was plagued with injuries my junior year (at CSU),” he said.

“I had quite a few minor injuries — ankle, knee problems. That made it difficult to play. I kind of realized then it would be hard to do it (play in the NFL) with my knee.”

The hard-nosed Gragert, despite being banged-up from much of his collegiate career, was a three-year starter for the Rams. The ironman in the trenches did not miss a game because of an injury.

“The two high-ankle sprains stuck with me for awhile,” he said.

“My knee swelled up a bunch. There was a lot of rehab, but a lot of guys play pretty hurt nowadays.”

And like them, he toughed-it-out. He also finished as a winner.

Colorado State (8-6 overall, 5-3 Mountain West) had its best season since 2002 in 2013, which was his senior year.

The Rams capped it off with a wild 48-45 come-from-behind victory over Washington State in the New Mexico Bowl. Washington State held a commanding 45-30 lead with less than three minutes remaining before the Rams stormed back. It was the first bowl appearance, and bowl win, for Colorado State since 2008.

“No one on the team had been to a bowl game,” Gregart said.

The other highlight came much earlier in the season — the fourth week of the season. The Rams traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play top-ranked Alabama in a Sept. 21 night contest in Bryant-Denny Stadium (101,821 capacity). That venue is the second largest in the SEC and the fifth largest in the nation.

The Tide held a 17-6 lead after three quarters and eventually pulled away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

“That was a whole, fun experience,” he said.

“The biggest crowd I ever played in front of. It was loud.

“We made some mistakes ... a fumble and interception. They tacked on two quick ones.

“We were all really happy with how we played,” he added.

After that, Colorado State won seven of its next 10 games.

“I’ll miss it a lot, especially the camaraderie, the locker room, hanging out with the guys every day,” he said of football.

“I gained a good perspective on it, work ethic from playing sports in general for most of my life.”

Gragert was a three sport athlete — football, basketball and track — at Libby High School. He was an all-conference and all-state selection his senior year in football.

It was always his dream to play Division I football, but took some help from his high school football coach, Neil Fuller, to achieve that goal.

“I felt he had the ability to play (Division I),” Fuller said.

“And that’s one of the best things about the story.

“He wasn’t getting any interest from MSU, UM, not even the Frontier schools.”

So Fuller took his son, Joel, who also wanted to play Division I football, and Gragert to a summer camp at Colorado State.

“He (Gragert) did some agility drills and their line coach came up to me and asked some questions,” Fuller said.

“He impressed them with his foot speed and agility.”

Not long after that, Colorado State head football coach Sonny Lubick offered him a full-ride scholarship.

“Right before I got there, he was fired and we got a new coach,” Gragert said.

“They honored my commitment.

“They told me they wanted me to grayshirt, put off coming for a semester. I started in the spring, did a redshirt after that.”

Gragert wound up playing for three different head coaches during his stay in Fort Collins, Colo.

“I was a late bloomer,” he said.

“I was really skinny early on in high school.

“It was definitely a life-changing experience to come down here from a small town in Montana. I got to travel to a lot of places I thought I probably would not have traveled to without playing football. Last year, I was in Hawaii, California and Alabama.

“I was the first one in my family to do college sports,” he added.

“I had a lot of support from my family.”

Gragert graduated this month with a degree in political science. He completed a degree in criminal justice last year.

He hopes to return to Montana and work in law enforcement.

“Coaching maybe sometime in the future,” he said.

“Maybe not right away. I have to find a job.

“Coach Fuller made it (football) fun,” he continued.

“That’s why I fell in love with the game.

“He was definitely a force in me coming to Colorado State. He invited me to come down to the camp where they discovered me. I was ready and willing to compete and try my hardest.”

“Jordan was a very good player,” Fuller said.

“He did a lot of growing after he got out of high school.

“He was a great kid to coach, a great teammate. There was never a negative word out of his mouth.

“I use him as an example all the time,” Fuller continued.

“I tell kids that you have to be ready when the opportunity arrives. He earned everything through his work ethic and in the weight room.”

Gragert agreed.

“Nothing is really impossible,” he said.

“Just keep working hard and good things will happen.

“I worked pretty hard to get here. I worked harder when I was here and it served me pretty well.”