GRANT HARALSON CAPPED OFF HIS FOOTBALL CAREER AT FORT BEND CHRISTIAN ACADEMY IN MEMORABLE FASHION.
The second-team, all-district linebacker helped the Eagles capture their first-ever District Championship and make an inspiring run to the State Semifinals.
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Haralson is used to performing on the big stage. He played football for seven years. He’s been involved in theatre for six.
He says there is a correlation between his two passions.
“Especially in musicals, you get this family aspect that you don’t normally get elsewhere,” Haralson said. “Like in football, every person has to do their 1/11th to get the job done. It’s the same way in theatre. The stage crew in theatre is like the guys in the booth who have to make adjustments and be light on their feet. In both things, football and theatre, it’s all about the guys behind the scenes who really make things run well.”
Haralson first started theatre when he was five years old when his family lived in Fort Worth. He was put into talent shows at Bransom Elementary because he could sing.
“I kept with it and took part in it more when I came to FBCA,” Haralson said.
Last year, Haralson helped guide FBCA’s one-act theatre program, the most competitive level of theatre at the high school level, to a third-place finish at Regionals. One place shy of qualifying for State.
He was part of FBCA’s musical the last two years. He also performed in various other plays.
“You get to use the elements you’ve had in your life and perform with those same types of emotions,” Haralson said. “In certain situations, you get to fall back on that and display those emotions in a different way than somebody else could. It was another way for me to express myself.”
Haralson compares studying lines in theatre to studying tape in football. But it’s the latter that will have the most lasting impact for him.
“Coming from my freshman year, where we lost every single game, and then changed the culture and built things up to become the team we had to be, I was able to see the growth in myself and everybody around me,” Haralson said. “It was a lot more meaningful, for sure. And then playing the State Semifinals at Rice University was such an incredible moment for me. It’s something I’m never going to forget.”
Haralson plans to attend Texas A&M University and study kinesiology. He wants to be a strength and conditioning coach.
FBCA head football coach Jordan Black serves as a role model.
“Coach Black runs all the workouts and inspired me, not only as a man of faith, but also how to be a man in a world where softness is taking over,” Haralson said. “He’s taught me how to work hard and how to do it efficiently and in a way that affects others in a positive way around you. It’s contagious.