XFL detour doesn’t extinguish NFL dream for Mt. Lebanon grad
Paul Grattan
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Paul Grattan of Mt. Lebanon was one of the instructors at an offensive lineman camp hosted by NFL standout Gino Gradkowski at Seton LaSalle High School. Grattan recently committed to the XFL in an effort to keep alive his dream of playing in the NFL. After the spring draft, he was invited to the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie camp as an undrafted free agent.
Paul Grattan of Mt. Lebanon has taken a detour on his road to the NFL.
Instead of heading to Seattle for training camp with the Seahawks, Grattan announced Tuesday that he has committed to the XFL for the upcoming season.
As an undrafted free agent, Grattan had attended rookie camp with the Seahawks and was eager to embark on his professional career, especially since the Pittsburgh Steelers would host Seattle at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 at Acrisure Stadium.
“Seattle ended up not bringing me up so I signed with the XFL,” explained the 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman.
“Unfortunately, no Acrisure,” he added. “I was excited to come back and be ready to play in front of my hometown team. It’s a disappointment that I didn’t get a shot for fall camp but I am excited about this opportunity. With this new league it just opens up more avenues to show my talents.”
Ever since third grade, Grattan demonstrated a penchant and passion for the pigskin. Back then he said, “I was like, ‘Wow, I really love this football stuff. I think I’m going to stick with it.’ It’s a dream, for sure, to play in the NFL.”
Until then, Grattan patiently waits. The XFL will hold its draft in November. The Seahawks have not ruled him out, either.
“They said if an interior guy gets hurt, then they’ll call.”
Grattan embraces that chance. During his rookie camp this spring in Seattle, he had grown to love the organization.
In his short stint, he learned much from offensive line coach Andy Dickerson as well as head coach Pete Carroll. Dickerson has 17 years of experience after coming out of Tufts University. Carroll has 28 years of NFL experience not to mention 19 in the college ranks where he had one of the most successful runs in USC history.
“I really loved the culture they have up at Seattle,” Grattan said. “Coach Dickerson is a great, young guy and Coach Carroll, he’s 70 but he acts like its his first day at college, blasting the music, shooting basketball at our first rookie meeting.
“They bring the energy. It’s an energy that I am used to and I love a lot.”
Grattan is accustomed to hard work, too.
During these summer months, he has brought the energy to his workouts at Adventures in Training with a Purpose in Wexford. The non-profit organization was founded by Jon Kolb in 2015.
After 13 years as the left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and winning four Super Bowls, Kolb spent 10 more years working as the Steelers’ Defensive Line Coach and Strength Coach.
“At 74, he can still move with the best of them,” remarked Grattan. “He’s helped me a lot.”
In addition to a fitter frame, Grattan gained nuggets of wisdom from Kolb that continues to aid him as his attempts to navigate his way into the NFL.
“I am not here to make friends. I am here to win a job,” Grattan said. “I am there to handle business. That’s my mentality. I’m here to build and make a career and go play football.”
Grattan received his first formal introduction into football playing in the trenches of the Mt. Lebanon Youth Football Association. He ended up playing for the Bulls under the direction of Chip Dalesandro.
Grattan remembered the tryouts well. The organization separates players into two groups; ones that have played before and those that had not.
“I walked up to Chip and said, ‘Hey, I have been playing since like the third grade but this is my first year here and he said, ‘OK, go over there with the new guys.’ He ended up picking me. He hid me away and drafted me into his little league team.”
Since that day, Grattan has been a diamond in the rough. “Waiting to be found,” he said.
Though he earned all-state and all-conference laurels and was named to the Pennsylvania Preps Golden 33 Team during his high school career, Grattan received few major scholarship offers. He accepted a pitch from Villanova, where he earned All-CAA accolades and helped the Wildcats earn an at-large bid to the FCS championship by 2019.
“Without a doubt, I think I have been overlooked my entire career,” he said. “I wanted to go to Pitt. I wanted to go to a big D1 out of high school. It didn’t end up happening but I am where I am now because of my mentality. I’m ready to make the most of my opportunity.”
Grattan made major strides in his career when he took advantage of a bad situation. When COVID-19 struck, Villanova cancelled its 2020 fall season. After the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility, Grattan transferred to UCLA.
In two seasons, he started 19 games at guard. In 2021, he helped pave the way for the Bruins to average over 200 years per game on the ground and rank 14th nationally in rushing offense. He earned All-Pac-12 honors and was selected to participate in the Hula Bowl all-star game. Gratton also won the Iron Bruin Award for his outstanding work in the weight room.
Grattan said that transferring from Villanova, where he earned his undergraduate degree in political science, to UCLA, where he was awarded a masters degree in education, definitely helped pave his current path to a professional career.
“At Villanova, I got a ton of exposure. It’s a great school and there are always scouts rolling through there,” he said.
“The biggest question mark though for scouts was ‘Can he play at the next level?. Can he handle bigger guys? By going to the PAC 12, I was able to show them that I could handle bigger, stronger, faster guys. It was the best move for me.”
Grattan’s best move came when he switched from guard to center. During the 2018 campaign at Villanova, he started 10 games as a center.
“I am really grateful I had that experience under my belt and to have a whole season of that,” he said. “So I am very comfortable with the position and ready to roll with it. I love playing center and all the cards seem to be lining up well.”
Now, the rest is up to Grattan. He believes he has transitioned well.
“The biggest thing is just being a professional. Being a professional means that you gotta handle your business day in and day out no matter what the circumstance.
“When you are in college, you are spoon fed the calendar for your day. You know exactly what you are doing from one month to the next month. At the professional level, you have an entire offseason to make sure you handle your business.
“So I think being a professional is something that I am used to and I’ve curated my habits and all I do on a daily basis. So I think I am right there.”
Grattan is right there on the cusp as the XFL will consist of eight teams divided equally between an East and West Division. The season will run from February to April with each team playing a 10-game season. The top four will progress to the playoffs.
“I am going to just go in and be myself and do what I have to do. I am who I am. I don’t need to be anybody else. I think that is all I need to be. The goal still is to play in the NFL.”
Paul Grattan of Mt. Lebanon believes in community and giving back. That is one reason why the 6-4, 300-pound center was dispensing wisdom at a recent Offensive Lineman camp put on by former NFL standouts Gino Gradkowski and Jim Sweeney.
Grattan played with Sweeney’s son, Liam, when he was growing up. When the two met at the Joe Moore Camp, Sweeney convinced Grattan to volunteer.
“He said, ‘Let’s coach some football’ and I didn’t have much to do this summer other than train, so I thought why not. It was an opportunity to give back to the community and a sport that I love.”
Grattan fell in love with football as a youth growing up in Mt. Lebanon. He believes playing for the Blue Devils laid the foundation for his future. It was a stepping stone to Villanova, then UCLA and next the XFL.
He takes pride in knowing he played in a program that produced a WPIAL as well as the school’s first state championship during the 2021 football season.
“We saw what playing at Lebo can do. They were a bubble just ready to burst with excellency. We saw what guys who put it all out on the line for their friends, family, teammates and coaches can do.
“They did not have the top tier D1 scholarships that most schools have but they were able to get it done with guys who loved playing with and for each other. You could see it out there on the field.
“That was there when I was a senior,” Grattan said. “We played for each other and that was all we could do. Every day. We loved playing for our town and that’s what football is all about.”
Grattan added the 2021 championship club gave Lebo alumni a lot to be proud of and he understands how just the experience of playing football transcends anything he will ever do.
“You don’t get the experience of a football team anywhere else. Ever,” he emphasized. “Being around guys from all walks of life and all kinds of viewpoints. There is just something special about being around a group of guys that have nothing in common besides the team they are on and that love each other has for it. It’s something special.”
Grattan remembers watching a few special players. He said he learned from Blue Devils like Arthur Goldberg and Paul Lang. Both played in the Big 10, Goldberg at Wisconsin and Lang at Michigan State before getting a tryout with the Steelers.
“Whenever I was a kid, I was always looking up to those huge Mt. Lebanon guys and a I wanted to be like them. I know how these kids feel,” Grattan said of the campers. “So I wanted to come back and hang out and do this. This was my opportunity. I hope they learned something. For me, it was special.”