NFL DEFENSIVE END ANTHONY LANIER FOUND HIS ROLE IN ATHLETICS -HEAR HIS STORY Feb. 18 at 11 AM

Anthony Lanier joins Grossmont College Athletics Thursday, February 18 at 11:00 a.m. for its Black Leadership in Athletics event, live on the Grossmont College Youtube Channel. 

Lanier will share his current role in athletics and how he found it.

He is a defensive end by trade, breaking into the NFL in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama A&M. The Redskins, signed him in May 2016, and he appeared in four games that season before going on the injured reserve list.

Lanier made more of an impact in 2017, with two starts and five sacks in 11 games, but was injured then released in September 2018.

He's been part, for varying stints, of three other NFL organizations since then — the Chargers, Chiefs, and the Saints, who signed him in August 2020 and put him on IR with an ankle injury a week later.

"It's always a fight and every day you look at it as a job," he continued. "You kind of get caught up in saying, oh yeah, you're having fun and playing football. Yeah, that's on Sundays. But do believe me that when you work it's a grind. It's like going into work on Monday."

He is proud of his accomplishments in the pros, considering his humble entry into the league.

Lanier organized the nonprofit Undefeated Warrior, the Anthony M. Lanier II Foundation Inc. during his rookie year and has held youth football camps and other community events for years. His foundation is called Undefeated Warrior in part because Jenkins High School's teams are called the Warriors. The Undefeated part is Lanier's personal score with those who doubted him.

"I hate to say it, but I had a lot of people who told me I wasn't going to be anything and I wasn't going to be able to do anything in life," Lanier said. "Every time they told me I wasn't going to do something or wouldn't be able to do something, I made sure I took it upon myself and had the backup of different people around me to make sure I got out there and accomplished my goal."

Lanier acknowledges he was an underachiever in his first two years of high school and didn't always have the grades to be eligible to play sports. He said he had to humble and "find himself," determining that he wanted to be known for more than being a class clown or being the tall kid."

"It was more of getting an understanding of myself, of who I wanted to be," Lanier said. "I wasn't a follower. Are you going to lead yourself in a hole or lead yourself in the right direction?

Savannah Morning News

To hear more of Lanier's story, join the Grossmont College Athletics Department Thursday, February 18 for its Black History Month event and follow @gcghouse!