By EJ Smith
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA 鈥� Grant Calcaterra may have been one percentage point away from never playing football again.
It鈥檚 hard to imagine the Eagles tight end, occupying a significant but sometimes subtle role in the team鈥檚 offense this season, went so far down a path away from the game. In truth, a single question on an exam to become an ambulance driver for a fire department in Los Angeles that would fast-track him toward firefighting made the difference that landed him in the Eagles鈥� offensive huddle instead.
鈥淚 studied my [butt] off,鈥� Calcaterra told The Inquirer. 鈥淭o pass it, you have to get a 75%. I got a 74%. I was obviously really upset, it was such a big opportunity. But I told the guys in the tight end room, if I would have passed that, I probably would have been doing that right now.鈥�
In the lead-up to the Eagles鈥� trip to Calcaterra鈥檚 native Southern California to play the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the 25-year-old recounted just how close he was to the point of no return in pursuit of a career as a firefighter.
A worrisome string of concussions at the University of Oklahoma drove him to medical retirement and into a two-week crash course to become a certified emergency medical technician in Chandler, Ariz. He made it through the class, applied for jobs, failed some tests, passed some others, and ended up one day away from starting a job on an ambulance for a different department when the gut feeling pulling him back toward the game finally won over.
Stemming from a few evenings spent catching passes from a former high school teammate in a basketball gym less than an hour away from SoFi Stadium , Calcaterra returns to the area this weekend as the second tight end on the depth chart and an unsung member of a star-laden group of skill players on the offensive side.
Whether it鈥檚 blocking players much bigger than his listed 6-foot-4, 240 pounds in the run game, taking advantage of the space created by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in the pass game, or diving on a fourth-quarter fumble to bail out position mate Dallas Goedert last Thursday against the Washington Commanders , Calcaterra has earned a reputation for doing 鈥渢he dirty work鈥� for his teammates.
鈥淚f you look at this offense, there鈥檚 a lot of mouths to feed, we鈥檝e got some ballers on this team,鈥� said fellow Eagles tight end C.J. Uzomah. 鈥淲hat he鈥檚 asked to do, he鈥檚 all-in. And when his opportunity comes, he鈥檚 there. ... It is a thankless job, I think tight end in general is sometimes overlooked. I know we鈥檝e gotten a lot of pub recently, but especially that second tight end, you鈥檙e asked to do a lot of the grimy, dirty work and you don鈥檛 get a lot of thanks.鈥�
Goedert added, 鈥淭hank God he failed that one [test.] So he could be there with us.鈥�
鈥榃hy the hell are you here?鈥�
Sitting at a lunch table a few days into EMT training, Calcaterra reluctantly unlocked his phone, pulled up a video and showed his classmates some of his best moments on a football field.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 like to gloat about it, I think we had to kind of beg him to show us,鈥� said Ryan Myers , a firefighter for the Modesto (Calif.) Fire Department who went through EMT training with Calcaterra. 鈥淎ll of us were like, 鈥榃hy the hell are you here?鈥欌��
Calcaterra鈥檚 answer traces back to the Oklahoma Sooners鈥� practice facility, when the all-conference tight end took an awkward fall after catching a slot fade and hit his head on the turf.
It was his third concussion in one calendar year, leading to a recommendation from Oklahoma medical staffers that he either take an extended time away from the sport or medically retire.
Earlier this month, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who overlapped with Calcaterra at Oklahoma in 2019, said he still remembered the concussion that put the tight end鈥檚 football future in jeopardy.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 talk enough about the things he鈥檚 had to overcome,鈥� Hurts said. 鈥淚 was at practice when I saw a terrible concussion and it was over for him. For him to be able to come back and play the game, I always pray for his health and hope for the best in terms of his safety on the field. But this was a game that he was ready to walk away from and he came back, and I鈥檓 fortunate to have him here.鈥�
Said South Carolina coach Shane Beamer , who was Calcaterra鈥檚 position coach with the Sooners : 鈥淵ou felt for him because you knew how talented a guy he was. To see him go through that, he always kept his spirits up and had the right frame of mind about things, which I really respected.鈥�
Once he made the decision to medically retire, Calcaterra started the two-week program in Arizona to get his EMT license. The course coincided with the initial lockdowns in response to the pandemic in 2020 and featured 14-hour days in which Calcaterra and about a dozen others 鈥減retty much lived there.鈥�
A handful of candidates dropped out before the end of the class, something foreshadowed by a brutally honest introduction to the course on the first day.
Half of you won鈥檛 pass the class, half of that group won鈥檛 get their EMT license, and half of those people won鈥檛 even use these skills long-term. Only two or three of you will actually become firemen.
Calcaterra heard the warning, but insisted it wouldn鈥檛 apply to him: 鈥淚 was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 going to be [expletive] me, I鈥檓 going to be a fireman.鈥欌��
Calcaterra鈥檚 friend Myers was among the only ones to actually beat the odds, although he said Calcaterra鈥檚 return to football was the lone thing keeping him from also becoming a firefighter in his home state.
鈥淲e knew, if there were going to be two of us, we鈥檇 be the two to make it to become firefighters,鈥� Myers said. 鈥淚t kind of seemed like, if anyone was going to do it, it was going to be him.鈥�
Calcaterra did come awfully close. Even after missing out on the ambulance driving job with the Huntington Beach Fire Department , in which he had connections and a promising path toward becoming a firefighter, he still found a job elsewhere to preserve his chances to work his way into the job he wanted.
The itch to play 鈥� or at least to see if he could 鈥� was back by that point, though. A one-year wellness check with a specialist left him with the option to return, and a few sessions running routes with K.J. Costello , a former teammate at Santa Margarita Catholic High School and a three-year starter at Stanford , left him wanting more.
鈥淭hat kind of got my juices flowing a bit,鈥� Calcaterra said of the throwing sessions at a basketball gym in Los Angeles . 鈥淎nd then I was supposed to start my first day as an EMT. Working on an ambulance. And the night before, I was like, 鈥業鈥檓 not coming.鈥欌��
Cause for celebration
Josh Martin still remembers the visual of Calcaterra celebrating his first touchdown of the 2021 season.
Graduated from Oklahoma and ready to return to football, Calcaterra committed to SMU and reunited with Tanner Mordecai , another Sooners transfer who was ironically the quarterback who threw him the slot fade that momentarily ended his football career.
Mordecai was also the one to deliver Calcaterra鈥檚 emphatic returning moment a year and change later, hitting the tight end for a touchdown that led to one of Martin鈥檚 favorite memories over a decade of coaching.
鈥淵ou just see the emotion from him after he scored,鈥� said Martin, who coached tight ends at SMU and is now an analyst on Nebraska鈥檚 coaching staff. 鈥淗e was so excited; obviously we were up, everybody was excited, but it was a moment like, 鈥楳an, I made the right decision. I did the right thing, I came back, bet on myself, and went against all odds.鈥�
鈥淚t was a really special moment,鈥� Martin added. 鈥淚t was kind of like a movie, truth be told. And he went off that game.鈥�
Calcaterra finished the game against Abilene Christian with two touchdowns and finished that season with 38 catches for 465 yards and four touchdowns. Although he was primarily used from a receiver鈥檚 alignment at Oklahoma, Martin said Calcaterra took a vested interest in becoming a capable blocker as well to round out his game and become 鈥渁 complete tight end.鈥�
Still, on the spectrum of tight ends capable of getting their hands dirty in the run game and ones that serve more as oversized receivers, Calcaterra was much closer to the latter by the time the Eagles selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
He wasn鈥檛 called into action much as an in-line blocking tight end in the first few years of his career as a result, but entered this season as the No. 2 tight end on the depth chart expected to handle tougher blocking assignments to free up Goedert to take on more of a receiving role.
Especially as the Eagles pivoted toward a more run-heavy approach midway through this season, Calcaterra鈥檚 new role often matches him up with defensive linemen who outsize him by a fair amount.
That鈥檚 why Uzomah, a 10-year veteran who signed to the Eagles active roster earlier this month, said the in-line tight end role Calcaterra plays is among the hardest in football.
鈥淚鈥檓 obviously extremely biased, but I think aside from quarterback and corner, tight end is the hardest position,鈥� Uzomah said. 鈥淭he things that we鈥檙e asked to do 鈥� we鈥檙e asked to block [6-5, 265-pound teammate Josh Sweat ] one-on-one sometimes and we鈥檙e like, 鈥楢ll right, let鈥檚 buckle up and let鈥檚 get this done.鈥� ... There鈥檚 a lot of talk about guys that are maybe quote-unquote undersized coming out of college. But when you鈥檝e got somebody that鈥檚 willing, I think that鈥檚 the main thing. He鈥檚 willing to go put his face on somebody.鈥�
Added Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson : 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be gritty. He鈥檚 willing to go in there and block for guys. Some of those plays, he has to go a long way and smack somebody, he builds up a lot of speed. He鈥檚 done a good job, I feel like he鈥檚 really grown the past two years as a blocker.鈥�
Partly due to Goedert missing three games with a hamstring injury and making him the primary tight end for a short stint, Calcaterra has 17 catches for 216 yards this season.
His contributions go beyond the numbers, though. In an offense that tilts so dramatically toward star receivers Brown and Smith, and running back Saquon Barkley , Calcaterra sometimes serves as the release valve when defenses overcommit to stopping the Eagles鈥� most impactful skill players.
Even more often, though, he鈥檚 one of the team鈥檚 most demonstrative players whenever Barkley breaks off a big run that he played a part in.
鈥淲hen a play pops, it鈥檚 just so exciting being one of the reasons that it pops,鈥� Calcaterra said. 鈥淚 get as excited just like an O-lineman does. Like, Lane, whenever he sees a big play, he鈥檚 going crazy. It鈥檚 just fun, it鈥檚 exciting to know that I had a key block and to drill it all week and for it to work, it鈥檚 exciting.鈥�
The Eagles play in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams . Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from SoFi Stadium .
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