[Tuck4Bama]

TUSCALOOSA -- The hurdles of Terry Grant's childhood were tall enough. He didn't need Hurricane Katrina, too.

But when the winds and rain tore through Lumberton, Miss., in 2005, Alabama's future tailback managed to shake it like a tackler or any one of many obstacles deterring him from future success.

"We got hit pretty hard. It was crazy," said Grant of Lumberton, which is 20 minutes from Hattiesburg. "I know to leave next time when one comes through like that."

Grant slept in the car when the roof came off his sister's house, spent a few days with an uncle in Jackson and returned to the football field about a week later.

No matter what has happened in his life, Grant has always had football. Early in his life, it was his way out. Now, it still is, and Grant remains focused and hungry despite his early season success as the Crimson Tide's starting tailback.

"I don't really worry about the attention part of it," Grant said. "That's when most guys make a mistake, getting caught up in all the hype."

Former Lumberton High School coach Teddy Dyess compares Grant to a "40-year-old" in that he's hard-headed, mature and set in his ways.

Life lessons forced Grant to become mature early in his life. Grant's mother left when he was in middle school to live in Florida and his father passed away when Grant was in high school.

Grant overcomes life's storms- al.com

[Stoney]

Well now he has an opportunity to make the best of what life has dealt him.