A Believer in His Dreams

Eric LeGrand overcame a paralyzing spinal cord injury to become an iconic representative of the Scarlet Knights known for his courage and perseverance, as well as an inspiration to athletes and people around the world. He will be inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 23.

Eric LeGrand was living his dream, sprinting down the field in a game on the same green turf used by the NFL’s Jets and Giants.

His dream included playing in the NFL, but it didn’t stop there. After retiring from football, he planned to kick off a career as a sports broadcaster. 

It was Saturday, October 16, 2010, and he was the leading defender on the Rutgers Scarlet Knight kickoff team. In a video interview before the game on the field at the newly opened Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, he said, “We are focused and we are going to keep on chopping all day long.”

As he often was, LeGrand was the first to reach the ball carrier in the kickoff in the fourth quarter of the game against Army that was tied 17-17. After making the hit that ended the play on the 25-yard-line, he collapsed on his back. 

It felt like, he said, a “flash grenade” had exploded in his head. 

Time slowed and his hearing dimmed. All he could move was his head. Coaches gathered around him and began to pray and told him to pray too. 

“My body was stuck,” LeGrand said. “I tried to get up, but I couldn’t.” 

But he would get up. And he would never stop dreaming. Or believing. 

At the Hackensack University Medical Center intensive care unit, doctors determined that LeGrand was paralyzed from the neck down. They said he would depend on a ventilator to breathe.

Five weeks later, he was breathing without assistance, and eventually, he managed to stand with the support of a frame. He later took part in a rigorous rehabilitation regime through the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network. Through continued therapy, he has regained movement in his shoulders and improved his overall health.

“My dreams have been redefined a lot, from wanting to play in the NFL to now being an entrepreneur and running a coffee shop and a bourbon business,” said LeGrand, who founded LeGrand Coffee House in Woodbridge in 2022 and cofounded Eric LeGrand Whiskey in 2023. 

LeGrand earned his bachelor’s degree in labor and employment relations from Rutgers in 2014 and has gone on to become a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and sports commentator, which includes 13 seasons of Scarlet Knights football games with the RWJBarnabas Health Rutgers Sports Network. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at ESPN’s ESPY Awards, and has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame and the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame. His many charitable efforts include establishing Team LeGrand, which has raised more than $2 million for the Reeve Foundation, and his tireless support of Rutgers Athletics.

“My life is like a chalkboard or screen where a mad scientist has all these quadratic equations, and you’re looking at it like it’s a different language—and the bottom right corner is the solution,” he said. “That’s my life—every day is different.”

More than a Number

Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano, who recruited LeGrand to Rutgers and was by his side at the hospital the night of his injury, and Kevin MacConnell, football chief of staff, nominated LeGrand. He joins former football players Paul Robeson, Frank Burns (who also coached the team from 1973–1983), Deron L. Cherry, and Devin and Jason McCourty in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

“Over the years I have watched Eric become a model of perseverance,” Schiano said. “He has used his platform to motivate others, to raise awareness, and to help countless individuals navigate their own challenges.”

LeGrand, who is from Avenel in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, and who played at Colonia High School, said attending the Rutgers-Louisville game in 2006 influenced his decision to play for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers rallied from a 25-7 deficit to beat the highly ranked Cardinals in a landmark win. 

“Being able to storm the field and celebrate with the team, celebrate with the fans and students—that was just a special night, a night I’ll never forget. It definitely solidified where I wanted to be.”

LeGrand contributed in his very first year and went on to appear in 31 games for the Scarlet Knights over three seasons. He made 60 total tackles—including 11 for a loss—along with 2.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries.

When Schiano became a head coach in the NFL at Tampa, he did not forget about his resilient recruit, honoring him by signing him as a free agent in 2012. LeGrand, a lifelong Denver Broncos fan, officially retired as a Buccaneer a few months later.

In 2013, Rutgers retired LeGrand’s No. 52 jersey—the only jersey the program has retired. “I put my blood, my sweat, my tears, my enthusiasm—everything that I had, I sacrificed for the game," he said at the ceremony.

A mainstay of home football games in recent seasons in LeGrand’s honor is the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey that features a drone light show in the sky that forms the number 52 and the word “Believe.” 

An Enterprising Entrepreneur

On a blustery afternoon in January, LeGrand’s mother, Karen, joined him in his coffee shop to chat about his bond with Rutgers. He ordered a “not too sweet” peppermint mocha with oat milk. 

“I’ll do cold brew here and there, but not today,” LeGrand said. “I need to get warm.” 

Carly Kovach, a barista at the LeGrand Coffee House, said LeGrand has been more than a boss. “Seeing people come in just to see him, and to see how he motivates everyone, it’s honestly been a motivation for me,” she said. 

Karen LeGrand said the pride she had watching her son compete on the football field evolved into something more profound after his injury. “People don’t know Eric the way I know Eric,” she said. “He’s a fighter and he’s always been a fighter. When someone tells him he can’t do something, he finds a way to do it.” 

Rutgers, Karen LeGrand said, had a role in forging that fighting spirit in her son.

“You know, I raised him the right way, but Rutgers and Coach Schiano mentored him with grit and mental toughness and discipline,” she said. “That’s Rutgers. Rutgers did that. He flourished in that structure.”

What LeGrand cherishes the most about his Rutgers experience is how the school rallied around him after his football career ended. Rutgers did everything from helping him take classes and meet with professors via Skype long before online learning was ubiquitous to teaming up with him in his whiskey business for a special-edition “Scarlet Knight Series” bourbon. “Rutgers has been with me, through and through, since that day,” he said. 

LeGrand said being inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni is the highest honor he has achieved so far, but he’s going to keep on dreaming. “I’m somebody who has big dreams,” he said. “I’m living them out each and every day.”

Nominator’s Remarks

“Eric has turned unimaginable adversity into a life that uplifts others—a rare and precious quality that any institution should be proud to honor. For all that he has accomplished and the legacy he continues to build, Eric LeGrand embodies the spirit of Rutgers.”

Greg Schiano, Head Coach, Rutgers football

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