The Jets were interested in Scott Gragg when he became a free agent in 2005 because of his 10 years of experience on the offensive line with the Giants and the 49ers, and that he could share some tricks of the trade with his young teammates.
"It was the first time where I had options available to me as a free agent, and I had a couple choices," Gragg said. "I could go either to Pittsburgh and serve as kind of a mentor role to a recent draft pick, or to New York where there might be an opportunity to start, but also play kind of a mentor role, too."
Gragg would be paying it forward from when he was drafted by the Giants out of the University of Montana in 1995, and was shown the ropes by veteran center Brian Williams.
"My locker was right next to Brian, and I don't know that he would consider it mentoring, but just from our locker room and meeting room conversations, I learned how to be a pro, how to take care of my body, to really absorb and try to hone my craft as an offensive lineman," Gragg said.
"And also, being in New York, coming from small towns in the Northwest and a smaller college, I guess it could be the biggest media place in the country. And so one of the biggest things I learned quickly is that New Yorkers have lots of opinions and advice.
"But to also recognize that when you're playing well, you're probably not as good as they say you are. And when you're not playing well, probably not as bad as they say you're playing, too. So just being able to keep things in perspective was a huge thing that I learned."
When Gragg came to New York the first time as a rookie, he had things coming at him from every direction while trying to navigate through the start of his career.
The second time…
"Going to New York, part two, locker rooms were more diverse in philosophy and beliefs. And I think that a lot of that was good, and certainly a keener understanding of how to last and perform well," Gragg said. "The science of playing football had improved. It touched both the professional performance side, but also kind of the social, emotional, spiritual side of things too."
Playing all 16 games and starting in seven, by finishing with a 4-12 record, Gragg's lone season with the Jets didn't produce a very interesting highlight reel.
But he did finish his 11-year NFL career with a Disney movie-like ending.
"We did struggle to win, but being able to find personal success and feel like I was a contributing factor to whatever success we had was certainly a sense of pride for me," Gragg said. "But the biggest highlight was the last game (against Buffalo).
"I knew it was going to be my last game, and so to be able to grab my, at the time five-year-old son, and hoist him over the stadium railing and walk off the field with my son... I still have that picture framed and on my screensaver 20 years after the fact."
Retiring as a player in 2006, Gragg and his family made their home in Oregon where he earned a master's degree from George Fox University and then taught math and was the head football coach at his alma mater, Silverton High School.
Gragg would later choose to leave the classroom and concentrate solely on coaching and returned to his other alma mater, Montana, and become the football team's compliance liaison. He'd eventually become the offensive line coach and then the co-offensive coordinator before becoming the assistant head coach.
"After I finished coaching at the University of Montana, I was a principal in Fort Benton, MT, which is a tiny school in the middle of the state," Gragg said. "And in an interest of getting back to family and friends, I applied for an opening at McNary High School (in Keizer, OR) as their instructional coach with the thoughts of hopefully being able to move towards administration."
He got the job and joined the staff in 2016.
"I was hired as an instructional coach in August and in the middle of October; I was put in a position as an interim assistant principal in charge of discipline and behavior," Gragg said. "And then at the end of that year, I applied for the assistant principal and athletic director position. So, I was hired as an instructional coach and quickly became an athletic director."
And now nine years after arriving at McNary H.S., Gragg is still there but in a different role.
"The principal went on to a district position as a curriculum instruction director. And oftentimes, when I was an athletic director, he would remark that, 'If I ever go, you're the guy that needs to be in this office,'" Gragg said.
"And so I earned my doctorate (from George Fox University) in 2021 in education leadership, and wanted to just continue to grow and see how far I could take my leadership. And I transitioned to the principal last school year, and in year two, it's been great. We've got a great community here in Keizer and a great staff.
"I think part of being a principal is the opportunity to set the vision for the school. And I enjoy interacting with the kids. The development from a 15-, 16-, 17- year-old, from when they first step in our doors as freshmen, and when they walk across the stage to get their diploma, you can see the change. That is really great and something that I enjoy about this.
"And then also working with teachers and helping them move forward in their career. And the relationships with the parents. That's a big part of being a principal, being the spokesperson to the community and the parents. You have some challenging conversations, but a lot of them are great, being able to celebrate what the kids are doing."
Making their home in Salem, Gragg and his wife, Toni, will be celebrating their 30th anniversary later this month. And also 30 years after he was drafted, they're both a few months away from being rookies again – as first-time grandparents.
Their daughter, Anna Fenlason, who's a youth ministry worker at Missoula (MT) Alliance Church, is expecting in September.
And their son, Brian, a sophomore at the University of Montana, is in their theater productions school.
"The friendships that I've gained in this profession, education, and the connections I still have to my former career as a coach and also as a player, those are all things that's just a tremendous blessing," Gragg said.
"And what's great is the pending birth of a first grandchild, and being able to pour into that kid's life and get kind of a move onto the next chapter of where things are heading after I retire from being a principal at some point in time."
