Tag: eric legrand

Eric Legrand opens LeGrand Coffee House the only way he knows how…in style

Former Rutgers football star Eric LeGrand opened LeGrand Coffee House on Saturday.

Eric LeGrand continues to inspire, with a positive message and a smile that doesn’t seem to ever stop. And now LeGrand serves his inspiration with a scone.

(Hopefully, it is a firm scone and not one like Mocha Joe’s…but we digress).

LeGrand Coffee House officially opened the doors to its brick-and-mortar location on Saturday in what was a star-studded affair. Of course, with LeGrand, could there be any other way?

The online platform for LeGrand Coffee has been online for a while where customers could purchase coffee by the pound. And of course, LeGrand Coffee is served at SHI Stadium. But the opening of the shop is a big moment for LeGrand.

The former Rutgers football defensive lineman is the only player in program history to have his number retired. He continues to be involved with the program as a radio analyst on football broadcasts.

 

But as for lattes and cappuccinos, this new business certainly is off to a promising start.

This isn’t just an entrepreneurial venture for LeGrand but a passion. LeGrand only recently started drinking coffee, instantly getting hooked. He set about to learn whatever he could about coffee, from bean to mug.

It doesn’t hurt that rapper Snoop Dogg is a fan of LeGrand Coffee either.

LeGrand Coffee House is located at 10 Green Street in Woodbridge, N.J.

Check out some of the celebrities who stopped by LeGrand Coffee House on Saturday to wish [autotag]Eric LeGrand [/autotag]well. And also a number of big names who wished him well on social media!

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Eric LeGrand talks his dreams of walking and his daily struggles in interview with Rex Chapman

Eric LeGrand sits down with Rex Chapman in CNN+ interview.

Anyone who has been around [autotag]Eric LeGrand[/autotag] for any length of time knows that he is an inspiration. But what few don’t really understand is that in the tragedy and triumph that is his life story, there are real moments of frustration.

There are also moments of incredible ambition and dreams as well.

This week, former NBA player Rex Chapman posted a video tease of his interview with LeGrand that will air on CNN+. During the interview with Chapman, the question was asked of LeGrand about his dreams – his actual literal dreams while he sleeps.

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The former Rutgers football player, paralyzed in October of 2020 while making a special teams play against Army, said he dreams about being able to walk:

“In my dreams, I’m not in a wheelchair. I’m walking –  and sometimes there are limitations. There’s limitations – sometimes I’m walking and I get to a staircase and I’m like ‘Can I walk up these stairs?’ or ‘Can I catch this football?’ or ‘Can I throw this ball?’ It happened and I’m never in a wheelchair,” LeGrand told Chapman in the CNN+ interview.

Chapman then asked LeGrand about his daily struggles, the little things that are difficult following his spinal cord injury and paralysis.

 

It was a real and humbling answer from LeGrand, a true glimpse into his life.

“The two smallest things I’d say…number one is temperature regulation. My central nervous system is all hacked up with the spinal cord injury. Most of the time, I’m freezing cold. My body temperature has a hard time regulating so being cold – I keep my room at 80 degrees and I have a heater I sit on top of most of the time just be able to regulate. I don’t sweat Summertime – I have to be careful in the sun; my body doesn’t sweat anymore,” LeGrand said.

“Number two is itching. Oh my goodness, when I get an itch on my face- you never realize how much you scratch. Your ears, your nose, your face.”

LeGrand hasn’t let the injury slow down his life – or his ever-present smile. He is a frequent keynote and inspirational speaker. In 2012, he signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who at the time were coached by Greg Schiano, his coach at Rutgers.

In addition to his speaking engagements, LeGrand is a media personality who provides commentary on several platforms affiliated with Rutgers football. He has also opened up his own business, LeGrand Coffee.

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A brick-and-mortar location for LeGrand Coffee is coming to New Jersey this year.

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Ground officially breaks on LeGrand Coffee House location in central New Jersey

Eric LeGrand opens a coffee house location in Woodbridge.

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One of Eric LeGrand’s dreams has reached a big moment on Monday, with the brick-and-mortar phase of LeGrand Coffee House getting its start.

On Monday, the construction phase of LeGrand’s coffee operation broke ground on the inside of the coffee shop. Le Grand Coffee, which launched a year ago with an online presence and sells everything from coffee beans to gear, has been in operation for nearly a year.

A former Rutgers football star who was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, LeGrand is a legend and well engrained into the lore of the program. He currently serves as one of the analysts covering Scarlet Knights football games.

In addition to the coffee house location on Green Street in Woodbridge, N.J,, LeGrand Coffee also has kiosks at SHI Stadium.

 

One of the most popular athletes to play any sport for the Scarlet Knights, LeGrand was a part of the 2020 Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame class along with Essence Carson (women’s basketball), Jonelle Filigno-Hopkins (women’s soccer), Alexis Gunzelman (women’s gymnastics) and James Ford (men’s lacrosse).

What will it take for Rutgers to become a Penn State rival? Eric LeGrand says ‘it has to be done on the football field’

Rutgers football legend Eric LeGrand says performance on the field will drive any rivalry with Penn State.

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As things stand right now, Penn State is more of a rival for Rutgers football then the other way around. But with time, this could develop and grow into something between the two programs.

But, as Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano noted following Saturday’s win at Indiana, his program hasn’t done anything yet to make this a true rivalry. Since entering the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers has yet to beat Penn State.

Former Rutgers defensive lineman Eric LeGrand, now founder of LeGrand Coffee House and an analyst on the Rutgers Radio Network, sees an increasingly competitive Rutgers as important in getting a potential rivalry started with Penn State.

“At the end of the day, it is a cool to have a rivalry as [Schiano] mentions, in college football. Obviously, we know the two fanbases both don’t like each other. Any time we get a chance to take a shot Penn State, we do. And every time they have a chance to talk down on us, they usually do,” LeGrand said on ‘CHOP Weekly.’

“Now it has to be done on the football field as coach mentioned, you get a few games now that it goes the underdogs way – which is Rutgers right now, then that’s when it starts to develop and some bad blood comes. It’s fun, you get to talk about it all year long. It is something that sticks in your mind.

“What is it -‘Go Navy, Beat Army’ or ‘Go Army, Beat Navy’ type of thing. Ohio State, I’ll never forget the year they took ‘M’ – any word that had the letter ‘M’ in it, they crossed it out.”

Rutgers (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) is coming into Saturday’s game looking to build on the momentum of two wins from their last three games. Penn State (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) lost 21-17 at home to Michigan this weekend.

Penn State, receiving votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, enters the weekend the favorite to beat Rutgers.

“You hope you have some of those upsets to create that type of, I guess, animosity towards each other,” LeGrand said.

Eric LeGrand on Rutgers dominating win at Indiana: ‘The best is yet to come’

Rutgers football legend Eric LeGrand sees Rutgers on an upward trajectory after Saturday’s win at Indiana.

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Rutgers football got an impressive win at Indiana this past weekend, with the ability of the program to bounce back not lost on legendary defensive lineman Eric LeGrand.

Two weeks ago, Rutgers suffered a bad home loss to Wisconsin, the type of score line that had many in the media and within the fanbase thinking that the Scarlet Knights season was six feet under. But Rutgers responded this past Saturday with a rather emphatic 38-3 win at Indiana, putting Rutgers (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) in position for a bowl game if they can get one more win.

LeGrand spoke about this resilience on the latest episode of ‘CHOP Weekly.’

“You get beat by a really good Wisconsin team that is hitting on all cylinders right now, is letting up seven points in their last four or five games. That was a tough one,” LeGrand said on the show.

“Then you adjust, you make the adjustments and have a weekend like that –  that goes to show you the maturity of the team, the leadership of that team – not giving up. Able to flush that game and start looking forward to the next game that was in front of them and the task at hand that was in Indiana.”

Winners of two of their last three games, Rutgers now faces a strong Penn State team (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) that is coming off a tight home loss to Michigan over the weekend.

(What does Greg Schiano like about Rutgers when they play away?)

The Scarlet Knights created six turnovers this past weekend in keying the win, their constant defensive pressure and ability to limit big plays keeping a solid Indiana offense in check. The offense, while not always pretty, was able to limit mistakes and didn’t turn the ball over.

In all five of Rutgers wins this year, they didn’t turn the ball over once. LeGrand was fired up about the performance, seemingly having downed some LeGrand Coffee just moments before ‘CHOP Weekly’ went on the air.

“That’s the performance you want to see,” LeGrand said.

“Six turnovers. I love seeing a defense flying around and having that swagger. It’s a team that you can see that is building and it’s going to be even better. The best is yet to come.”

Watch: Rutgers commit Taj White celebrates a big play by doing the ‘CHOP’

Rutgers football gets a ‘CHOP’ from commit Taj White in a recent game.

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Taj White is all in, the Rutgers verbal offensive lineman getting ready for his upcoming transition to the Big Ten by already incorporating the ‘CHOP’ into his on-the-field celebrations.

In a recent game, White got up from blocking an opponent and the first thing he did was the ‘CHOP’ hand motion. The ‘CHOP’ became synonymous with Rutgers during Greg Schiano’s first tenure as Rutgers head coach, the concept being introduced to the program in 2005.

When Schiano returned to Rutgers after the 2019 season, he brought back ‘CHOP’ as well as the ‘F.A.M.I.L.Y’ mantra. A Rutgers superfan on Twitter who goes by @Bori_Blanco found this gem. White’s inclusion of the ‘CHOP’ is reminiscent of Rutgers legends such as Eric Foster and Eric LeGrand both doing the motion on the field after big plays:

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>⁦<a href=”https://twitter.com/NelsonMonegro77?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NelsonMonegro77</a>⁩ #76 check him out getting up after the pancake 🥞 &amp; immediately doing the chop ⁦<a href=”https://twitter.com/Coach_Aurich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Coach_Aurich</a>⁩ ⁦<a href=”https://twitter.com/RFootball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@RFootball</a>⁩ 🪓💯🇺🇸 <a href=”https://t.co/SD7nsXV0nl”>pic.twitter.com/SD7nsXV0nl</a></p>&mdash; Bori_blanco (@ninaneddieanto) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ninaneddieanto/status/1455967827203084288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

A three-star offensive lineman, White is the No. 14 player in the state according to Rivals.com. He held a number of ‘Power Five’ offers at the time of his commitment in February to Rutgers including Maryland, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia among others.

Eric LeGrand on meeting Snoop Dogg at Rutgers (who got some LeGrand coffee in the process)

Rutgers football legend Eric LeGrand met rap legend Snoop Dogg this weekend.

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We hear that Snoop Dogg likes his LeGrand Coffee, but only if it is ‘Drip…Like it’s Hot.’

Eyeroll. That was a bad pun, even by our standards.

The rap legend performed at Rutgers University this past weekend and had the opportunity for a second time to meet another legend, Eric LeGrand. And Snoop Dogg walked away with some pretty cool swag from LeGrand, who is the mind behind LeGrand Coffee House.

On Monday’s edition of ‘CHOP Weekly,’ Chris Carlin opened the show by asked LeGrand about meeting one of the most influential musicians of all time.

“I had to hook up Snoop D-O-Double-G with the coffee, it was a really cool to meet him,” LeGrand said on the show.

“Like I said met him in the past and before but to actually get to hang out with him and talk with him for a few minutes and let him try something of that LeGrand Coffee was pretty awesome, especially to see him decked out in his Rutgers gear was even cooler. I mean, Snoop Dogg. He’s the man, he’s the G.O.A.T., he’s he’s a mogul so it was just an awesome opportunity.”

 

The rapper was seen sporting Rutgers gear all over social media as well.

 

Greg Schiano on Eric LeGrand’s HOF induction: ‘His positive outlook on life … says everything to me’

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano reacts to Eric LeGrand’s Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame induction.

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Saturday may have had some struggles for Rutgers football, but the induction of Eric LeGrand into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame is certainly a huge moment for the program.

LeGrand, one of the most inspirational athletes in the world and now the entrepreneur behind LeGrand Coffee, received the loudest cheer from the crowd at SHI Stadium when the five honorees were recognized on Saturday as part of homecoming weekend.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano wasn’t able to watch the halftime recognition of LeGrand on the field as he was in the locker room with his team. But he still understood the significance of the moment.

“I think that’s really special. It’s well-deserved and really represents what Rutgers, what I believe Rutgers is all about. Just hard-working, tough, relentless people. Eric represents that better than anyone I’ve ever met. His positive outlook on life, even though he’s been dealt the worst hand you can imagine, that just says everything to me,” Schiano said after the game.

“When I heard that had happened, [I was] really, really happy for him and his family. Like I said, well-deserved.”

LeGrand and the four other honorees were celebrated for their impact on the university at a Friday night gala event at the Hilton East Brunswick. The four other additions to this year’s Hall of Fame class are Essence Carson (women’s basketball), Jonelle Filigno-Hopkins (women’s soccer), Alexis Gunzelman (women’s gymnastics) and James Ford (men’s lacrosse).

LeGrand, who suffered a spinal injury in 2010 that ended his football career, signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 when Schiano was named the NFL team’s head coach.

Rutgers lost to Michigan State on Saturday 31-13. The Scarlet Knights are now 3-3 (0-3) this season.

Rutgers inducts Eric LeGrand into Hall of Fame

Rutgers honored Eric LeGrand on Saturday

A special moment for a special person Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.

Rutgers inducted Eric LeGrand into its Hall of Fame.

LeGrand, of course, is the player who was paralyzed while playing for the Scarlet Knights. As a junior, LeGrand suffered a severe spinal injury during a game against Army in 2010.

Per ScarletKnights.com:

Despite his injury, LeGrand persevered, resuming his academic responsibilities via Skype for the spring 2011 semester. He would go on to earn his Rutgers degree in labor relations. LeGrand has displayed a tremendous amount of courage, belief and strength throughout his rehabilitation, capturing the attention and hearts of the nation. A recipient of the prestigious Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPY Awards, LeGrand founded Team LeGrand, a charity arm of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation in 2013. Team LeGrand has raised over $1 million through its events and fundraisers. The foundation works to find a cure for paralysis and helping improve the quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries. LeGrand has continued to serve as a motivational speaker.

And if you are looking for some good coffee in New Jersey — or you can order online, too — click here.

Eric LeGrand on the new reality of recruiting for Rutgers football

Former Rutgers football star Eric LeGrand discusses the impact of recruiting in the new college football landscape.

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College football recruiting has changed drastically in recent months and Rutgers is ahead of the curve when it comes to making the most of the new normal.

Now a part of the Rutgers football team, earlier this month quarterback Gavin Wimsatt went from playing his third game of the season as quarterback of his high school team to now being on a Big Ten roster. It is a whirlwind scenario certainly and part of the reality now that Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is a part of college sports.

Former Rutgers standout defensive tackle Eric LeGrand said that coaching staffs need to rely on their recruiting staff now more than ever to navigate these new realities of college football.

“It’s very interesting, you have to be adaptable, having to change on the fly. I think you have to rely a lot on your staff, your recruiting staff especially, knowing the rules and regulations of what you can do,” LeGrand said on the ‘CHOP Weekly’ show.

“And thinking if we have a position of need, we may have to try and get a guy earlier. Hey, do we have enough scholarships for this? Now you’re going into the game saying usually when I was getting recruited, it was ‘We have enough scholarships for this year and that’s that.’ Now, it’s do ‘I bring him in for 2021? Do I bring him in for 2022?’ You really have to know your roster and how many you’re graduating next year or somebody leaves or transfers in the middle of the year or the summer.”

The case of Wimsatt is certainly an outlier in the world of college football, going from playing in high school to hours later joining a Big Ten program.

But it is a fascinating scenario and one that might play itself over again in the coming years.

With Wimsatt reclassifying to the 2021 class, Rutgers dropped to No. 31 in the national rankings for 2022. They are No. 17 in average star ranking (3.43 stars).

Wimsatt is currently enrolled at Rutgers, practicing with the team and eligible to participate fully including game action.