Eric LeGrand is a college football legend. A former Rutgers football player who broke his neck at the C3-4 level during a 2010 game, Eric has risen like a phoenix since his injury. A business owner several times over who’s stayed connected to the football community, read on for Eric’s story.
Why He’s Fearless
Like most football players, Eric grew up loving football. When he went on to play football for Rutgers university, it was a dream come true. Unfortunately, during a fourth-quarter play in October 2010, Eric sustained an injury during the game, that resulted in a C3-4 injury. Seen live by millions around the world, Eric’s injury is still known today by many.
With an injury that causes paralysis from the shoulders down, Eric had to dig deep to find the inner strength to carry on as a quadriplegic, and find it did he ever. Now a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, author and philanthropist, Eric wears many hats. Raising money for spinal cord injury research has been one of his biggest goals.
Shortly after his injury he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 to become their official announcer. He’s also been a sports analyst for ESPN, the Big 10 Network, Rutgers Radio and Sirius.
In 2013, he launched “Team LeGrand” with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, to help a raise millions of dollars for research and for care for the community. He also graduated from Rutgers in 2014, and went on to start two companies. His first company is his own clothing brand called Shop Fifty Two, which was launched in 2019. And in 2021, he created his own coffee brand, LeGrand Coffee house. And in 2022, he opened a brick and mortar location in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
What’s Next?
Eric has also keep up his body as best he can. He has done locomotor training to re-teach his body how to walk. He was also a participant in the Reeve Foundation’s Neurorecovery Network, and was able to get movement in his shoulders as a result of this therapy.
Fearless and moving forward, Eric is the epitome of a game changer, not afraid to switch things up when necessary and crush it along the way. We can’t wait to see what business he opens up next.