S Grant Delpit voted Browns 2021 Ed Block Courage Award recipient (12.7.21)
For Immediate Release
Dec. 7, 2021
BEREA, Ohio – Cleveland Browns S Grant Delpit has been selected by his teammates as the Browns 2021 Ed Block Courage Award recipient. The Ed Block Courage Award is given annually to a member of each of the 32 NFL teams who best exemplifies the qualities of Ed Block – the former head athletic trainer of the Baltimore Colts – based on courage, compassion, commitment and community.
“Thank you to the Cleveland Browns organization, my teammates and the Browns athletic training staff for this great opportunity and for believing in me to help fight through this Achilles tear from last year,” said Delpit. “It was definitely a difficult test for me and I battled a lot, but my support system held it down to ultimately help me capture my goals. I also want to thank everyone who I worked with this past offseason to get me back and ready for this season.”
Originally drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round (No. 44 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft out of LSU, Delpit’s speed and versatility was expected to be an exceptional addition to the Browns defense during his rookie season. Unfortunately, the Houston native sustained a season-ending Achilles injury early in training camp and did not make his NFL debut until 2021.
After a strenuous road to recovery with the Achilles during the past year and battling other injuries early in the 2021 campaign, Delpit immediately made in impression in his first professional football game, logging six tackles (three solo) and a sack-fumble in the Browns’ 31-21 home victory over the Houston Texans. Late in the fourth quarter, his impactful sack-fumble helped lead to a blocked Texans’ field goal that allowed the team to preserve a late lead and secure its first victory of the year.
Entering Week 14, Delpit has started three of his 11 games played, totaling 30 tackles (18 solo) one sack, one interception, three passes defensed and one forced fumble while adding five special teams stop. The second-year player notched his first career interception in Week 12 at Baltimore, picking off Ravens QB Lamar Jackson late in the second quarter.
Despite being on injured reserve last year, Delpit found opportunities to engage with the Northeast Ohio community and has continued to do so in 2021. In September, he hosted a special shopping event for Ohio Elite Seminoles Youth Football Program at a local Meijer, where they provided each of the participants with $150 gift cards to purchase gear, school supplies and other items of need for themselves, families and friends. Additionally this past offseason, Delpit – who was personally inspired after moving to Texas when displaced as a child due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – helped refurbish Jesecia Johnson’s home in Houston with a $10,000 donation after it was devastated by a winter storm in February.
Delpit will be recognized tonight during the Providence House 26th Annual Deck the House Benefit Auction, which will be hosted virtually this year. The program begins at 6:30 p.m., and more details can be found here.
The Providence House Deck the House and the 2021 Ed Block Courage Award presentation is part of Day 1 of Browns Give Back’s “10 Days of Giving.” Throughout “10 Days of Giving,” spanning Dec. 7-16, Browns players, coaches and staff will participate in special community events and make meaningful contributions to deserving organizations or individuals as part of the team’s yearlong commitment to promoting education and youth football, as well as inspiring others through its signature First and Ten volunteering movement.
The Browns are once again hosting its annual “10 Days of Giving” initiative as they strive to lift spirits of those in need throughout Northeast Ohio during the holiday season. The community engagement program, initially inspired by the Browns’ signature #give10 First and Ten volunteer movement, fully encompasses the team’s dedication to education and combatting chronic absenteeism in Ohio through the Stay in the Game! Keep Learning, Every Day Network, its focus on enhancing youth and high school football throughout the state and its commitment to addressing social justice issues.
Providence House, the Cleveland Browns Courage House for Children since 1999, protects at-risk children and supports families through crisis, strengthening communities to end child abuse and neglect. For more information, visit www.provhouse.org.
Cleveland Browns Ed Block Courage Award winners:
1984 WR Willis Adams
1985 DE Carl Hairston
1986 TE Ozzie Newsome
1987 RB Earnest Byner
1988 LB Eddie Johnson
1989 T Cody Risien
1990 RB Kevin Mack
1991 CB Mark Harper
1992 WR Lawyer Tillman
1993 WR Patrick Rowe
1994 LB Carl Banks
1995 DB Bennie Thompson
1999 DE Derrick Alexander
2000 LB Jamir Miller
2001 OG Jeremy McKinney
2002 TE Mark Campbell
2003 DL Courtney Brown
2004 RB Lee Suggs
2005 LB Kenard Lang
2006 K Phil Dawson
2007 DB Gary Baxter
2008 WR Joe Jurevicius
2009 WR Mike Furrey
2010 LB Eric Barton
2011 LB D’Qwell Jackson
2012 P Reggie Hodges
2013 DB T.J. Ward
2014 DL Desmond Bryant
2015 OL Alex Mack
2016 DB Joe Haden
2017 OL Kevin Zeitler
2018 DB Terrance Mitchell
2019 S Juston Burris
2020 RB Nick Chubb
2021 S Grant Delpit
About the Cleveland Browns and Browns Give Back:
The Browns Give Back to Northeast Ohio with a commitment to education and youth football while engaging the community through the team’s signature First and Ten volunteer movement. For more information, visit www.clevelandbrowns.com/brownsgiveback.
Education – The Cleveland Browns are dedicated to improving the quality of education for students in Ohio by making investments that keep kids in school every day so they can succeed, highlighted by the Stay in the Game! Keep Learning, Every Day Network. The Stay in the Game! Network is a statewide initiative designed to promote the importance of school attendance and put an end to chronic absenteeism. The team engages local school districts and promotes quality education by using attendance data and feedback from families to build a school-going culture, uncover and reduce common barriers to attendance and support engagement opportunities for students to thrive. In the 2021-22 school year, the Stay in the Game! Network will partner with 16 school districts, benefitting more than 110,000 students in Ohio. An adaptation of the Get 2 School, Stay In The Game! Network, the name change reflects the current environment where schools may not necessarily be able to host in-school learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter the circumstances, the Stay in the Game! Network will continue to encourage and support students to maintain a strong educational-going mindset to keep learning, every day, aligned with its overall goal to help end chronic absenteeism and provide all students equal opportunities to be successful. To learn more visit, visit SITGNetwork.org.
Youth Football – The Cleveland Browns are committed to assisting the development, safety and growth of youth and high school football throughout Northeast Ohio with year-round programming for players, coaches, officials and parents. Through camps, clinics and other initiatives, the Browns’ goal is to promote healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by enhancing opportunities for youth football participation and education.
First and Ten – Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team’s community program, established to inspire fans to #give10 and help their communities by volunteering for 10 hours each year. Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual’s city across the globe, as well as the franchise’s local community. To date, more than 2.75 million hours of volunteering have been pledged through First and Ten. All Browns fans are encouraged to join the volunteering effort by signing the First and Ten pledge on the team’s website and by sharing their stories with #give10.
About Providence House
Providence House – Ohio’s first crisis nursery – has cared for more than 8,000 families and children in crisis, living for days, weeks or years without the support they need to help get them back on their feet. For nearly 40 years, Providence House has protected at-risk children, empowered families in crisis and built safer communities for every child. Their nationally recognized, evidenced-based model prevents child abuse and neglect, reduces system involvement and foster care placements and keeps families safe, stable and together. Visit www.provhouse.org for more information.
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