By Will Vandervort.
Grady Jarrett was watching the NFL Draft at his parents’ home on Friday night when he started to smell something burning. At first they thought it was something in the kitchen, but when they went in, there was nothing burning.
Then they ran upstairs and that’s when they discovered the upstairs was on fire.
“It grew too much,” the former Clemson defensive tackle said on Saturday after being drafted in the fifth round by the Atlanta Falcons. “We could not put it out with water or with a fire extinguisher so we just had to get everybody out of the house.
“It was tough sitting there watching your house burn and not being able to do anything about it.”
What made it even more difficult was the fact Jarrett could not do anything about the draft either. A player many thought was going in the second round, the 6-foot-1, 304-pound defensive tackle watched on his cell phone as one pick after another came in without his name being called out.
To add insult to injury, every piece of Clemson memorabilia he owned was destroyed in the fire.
“All the awards people saw me receive at halftime of the spring games, they are gone,” Jarrett said. “They’re all gone. I’m sure I can get them replaced. But the sentimental things like that we lost up there was sad. The material stuff like the TV, the pool table and all of that stuff, all of that can be replaced.
“The main thing though was to get my family out safely and that’s what we did.”
Fortunately, no one was injured in the house fire, a house Jarrett has lived in since he was five years old. As for Jarrett’s emotions, they continued to sink when his name was not called in the second and third rounds on Friday night.
It took another round and 37 picks before his name was called in the fifth at 137 overall by the Atlanta Falcons.
“My blood pressure would not have been good if they checked it right now,” Jarrett said. “I have never felt like that in my life and I’m sure very few people have because the anticipation of the draft and then the fire going on at the same time, it just wasn’t a good mix.”
But with his hometown team the Falcons choosing him on Saturday, it took a little sting out of what had transpired the previous 24 hours.
“Things happen for a reason,” Jarrett said. “I could not ask for a better situation from what has gone on with me over the last 24 hours.”
Jarrett will join his former teammates Vic Beasley and Malliciah Goodman in Atlanta. Goodman was a fourth-round selection by the Falcons in 2013 and started at defensive end last year, while Beasley was chosen eighth overall by Atlanta in the first round on Thursday.
“It is definitely wonderful and I’m thankful for the opportunity to get to play with those guys again,” Jarrett said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Jarrett admitted he got a little frustrated while he was waiting and he doesn’t have an idea of why he dropped so far.
“I don’t know what happened or why,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter now. I have the opportunity and that is all I need. This is the perfect place. That is how I’m looking at it and that is how it is going to be. I’m going to make the most of it.
“That’s the kind of player I am.”
There was a silver lining to Jarrett being selected with the first pick in the fifth round – the Falcons showed how much they wanted him. Atlanta traded up eight spots with Minnesota to get Jarrett with the 137th pick.
“The draft is a tricky thing,” Jarrett said. “Teams have their needs. I understand what kind of player I am and I’m going to come out on top every time. I am going to go in and earn me a spot.”
Jarrett came to Clemson as a three-star prospect, but became one of the top defensive tackles in the ACC during his time at Clemson. A three-year starter, he tallied 83 tackles as a junior, including 11 tackles for loss and then this past year he was the unquestionable leader of a defense that ranked No. 1 nationally in 11 different categories, including total yards allowed.
He totaled 73 tackles, to rank third on the team, and had 10 tackles for a loss in 2014 to earn All-ACC First-Team honors.
“I will always keep that chip on my shoulder and I will demand the best of myself,” Jarrett said. “I have to go to work now.”
Jarrett will begin his work this Thursday when he joins Beasley and the rest of the Falcons’ rookies at rookie mini-camp.
“I’m looking to having a successful career in Atlanta and there is no doubt I will get that done.”