Grant Stuard's energy is infectious.
Every time he smiles, everyone around him smiles. Every time he laughs – with a laugh that takes over a room – everyone laughs. When he celebrates, everyone celebrates.
Stuard's energy is so infectious, even he benefits from it.
"I always kind of figure out that if I'm flying around, making plays, exerting energy, it gives me more energy," the linebacker said with a grin. "Just pedal to the metal every play is how I do it."
Getting energy from giving energy doesn't necessarily match up with what most people would expect, but then again, neither does Stuard.
After all, it's not exactly normal to have 18 tackles in an NFL game. Especially when your previous career-high was two.
"Grant was out there setting the tone," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "Iron man game today...I feel like Grant's one of the hardest people on our team, so I was just glad to see him have a day that will be remembered."
Stuard was one of the top performers in the Colts' 16-10 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday; his 18 tackles, 11 of which were solo tackles, made him the leader across the board in both categories. Franklin was second with 16 tackles (five solo).
Stuard played 64 out of 69 total defensive snaps in Sunday's game, as linebackers E.J. Speed and Jaylon Carlies were both injured. Speed was listed as inactive prior to the game with a knee injury and Carlies exited the game in the first half with an ankle injury.
With Speed's injury, Stuard knew he was going to be starting the game – his first start in his three-year NFL career. But he didn't know he was going to be playing that much.
That's not what it looked like when he was on the field, though.
"I just felt really prepared this week," Stuard explained. "I watched a lot of film and got to get a lot of practice reps, as well as just mental reps behind some of the linebackers. And so that's all. I was just trusting the process and just trusting my preparation."
"He's a guy that comes in every day and works his tail off," head coach Shane Steichen said. "And he got his opportunity and made the most of it."
Stuard's identity is rooted in giving his best effort in everything, all the time – it always has been. So whether he's running up and down the side of the field at practice to build up his speed and endurance or watching film and physically practicing taking reps at home, Stuard won't let himself do anything but work as hard as he possibly can.
"In the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 9:10, it says everything your hand does, to do it with your full might, like everything that you put your hand to, give everything you have to it because there's no work or toil in the grave, where everybody's headed," Stuard said. "So I just try to embrace that and just give my best, 100 percent, (and) get one percent better every day."
"I really don't even have to think about giving great effort no more," he added.
Stuard also didn't think about how many tackles he had; he didn't know until he looked at the stats sheet postgame. He was too busy focusing on living up to the standard the Colts hold each other to.
"We hold each other to a really high standard, and that starts with Z (Zaire Franklin)," Stuard said. "There's plays in practice, even plays in the game – there was a play in the game where I was like, 'It's not my responsibility to make,' and Z looked at me and he was like, 'Yo, you can make that!' And I was like 'Alright, bet! I gotta make it!' Just that player leadership has been huge for me. It's definitely raised my standard, raised my expectations of myself because of what my teammates are expecting of me."
Every time Stuard stepped on the field on Sunday, whether he was playing on special teams or lining up with the defense – because he did both – he made sure he knew exactly what he was supposed to do.
But Stuard didn't just do what he was supposed to do. He excelled at it, and he brought every bit of energy he possibly could while he did. And in a game largely defined by defense, that meant everything.
