By Conor Orr/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
Joe Proudman/The Star-Ledger Eric LeGrand said he's stood up for as long as 45 minutes this month.
As Eric LeGrand made his way through a tour of the Jets practice facility this afternoon, he ran into new friends and long-time idols.
For the first time, he met Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who has been raising money for LeGrand’s Believe foundation through the sale of his “Can’t Wait” t-shirts. The two had been speaking over the phone for the last month.
“He was saying what’s up to me, acting like the clown everyone says he is,” LeGrand joked. “I’ll probably talk to him more after practice. He did (live up to expectations).”
LaDainian Tomlinson, a player that used to routinely cause frustration for LeGrand, stopped by to talk.
“I was in shock,” he said. “He used to play with San Diego and my favorite team is the Denver Broncos so I didn’t like him back in the day,” he said. “But when I finally met him I was star-struck.”
He posted up near the familiar popping sleds that accompanied the defensive line drills, and smiled as defensive captain Sione Pouha came over to shake his hand.
“He’s a big man,” LeGrand said.
In all, he said he was excited for an opportunity to come out and have moments like these. The Jets offered LeGrand an open invitation to come to practice whenever he wanted, using LeGrand’s former Rutgers teammate and current Jet linebacker Jamaal Westerman as a middle man.
Amid a month where he’s made national television appearances and experienced great strides in his rehabilitation process, LeGrand said he’s excited for what lies ahead.
“Everything is going well,” he said. “In August the longest I’ve stood up for is 45 minutes, just gotta keep standing up for half an hour so I can get my body on this locomotive training mat ... basically retraining your legs to walk again.”
He credited the outpouring of support from friends, family and former and current players from around the football landscape.
"I don’t know how to put it into words, unfortunately I got hurt but fortunately I was maybe able to inspire a bunch of people like I’ve been able to do,” LeGrand said. “It’s truly a blessing and very humbling.
“(A positive attitude) is way to get through life, man. The only way to get better is just to fight through it because if you’re negative, things are just going to go right down the drain.”
LeGrand, who is coming up on the year anniversary of the hit that left him paralyzed on a kickoff return against Army , is not bitter about his disposition. He went as far as saying he doesn’t think any league should alter the kickoff rules.
“I don’t think anyone should change the kickoffs,” he said. “My injury is like one in every 5 million tackles that happen. But it was just an unfortunate thing that I believe happened for a reason. I know the changes will hurt a lot of the kick returners because a lot of people make their money off it.”
He said he plans to be at all of Rutgers’ home games this year and will work with SNY to further his career in broadcasting.
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