Garrett Grayson

Grayson attended Heritage High School in Vancouver, Washington,^[1][2] where he was a three-sport standout in football, basketball, and track.^[3] In football, he was a three-year starting quarterback and three-year letterwinner, also played free safety, cornerback and wide receiver, and served two seasons as a team captain. He guided the Timberwolves to three straight Class 4A playoff berths and a GSHL championship in 2008. He broke most of Washington's Class 4A state passing records, and had the nation's highest completion percentage as a senior (73.2 percent), topping over 10,000 yards in total offense during his career. He garnered consecutive Greater St. Helens League MVP honors, in 2008 and 2009.

Also a standout track & field athlete, Grayson lettered all four years competing in sprinting, hurdling, jumping and relays events. His personal records include 110 hurdles (15.20 s) and 300 hurdles (40.57 s)^[4] In sprints, he ran the 100-meter dash in 11.03 seconds ^[5] and the 200-meter dash in 24.00 seconds.^[6] In addition, he also clocked a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, bench-pressed 290 pounds, squatted 430 and had a 38-inch vertical jump.

Grayson was ranked by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and the 22nd best dual-threat quarterback in his class. He was ranked the No. 17 overall prospect from the state of Washington.^[7] He chose to attend Colorado State over scholarship offers from Miami (OH), Eastern Washington, and Idaho State.^[8]

As a true freshman at Colorado State University in 2011, Grayson started three of four games he played in, going 0-3. He completed 43 of his 77 pass attempts for 542 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions. Among those games, he threw for 3 interceptions in a loss vs Wyoming.

Grayson entered his sophomore season in 2012 as the starter. His lone win as a starter came in the team's season opener against in-state rival Colorado, in which CSU won 22-17, but they lost to FCS team North Dakota State. He was injured in the team's fifth game in a loss at Air Force, in which he suffered a broken collarbone.^[9] He appeared in only one game as a backup after that. Overall, he appeared in six games, going 78 of 138 for 946 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

Grayson started all 14 games as a junior in 2013. He finished the year with a school record 3,696 passing yards.^[10][11] He also had 23 touchdowns. In a poor performance at Utah State, Grayson threw 2 interceptions as the Rams were shut out 13-0. The Rams played in the New Mexico Bowl that year against Washington State, where CSU won 48-45, while storming back from 35-13 and 45-30 down, to kick a walk off 41 yard field goal.

Grayson returned as a starter in 2014. In game 7 against Utah State, Grayson passed Kelly Stouffer to become Colorado State's all-time passing yards leader.^[12] In addition, his 4,006 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns that year are the highest in Colorado State history.^[13] He was also chosen to play in the 2015 Senior Bowl for that year.^[14]