Gracen Halton played running back in high school. Then he got to Oklahoma weighing 250 pounds and made 21 tackles in his first two years there. Today, as a rookie, he knocked the ball loose in Seattle, fell on it in the end zone, and scored a touchdown. Here is the road between those things. He is from San Diego. He went to St. Augustine High School and he started out playing for a youth team called the Bonita Bucs. His father Buford runs a foundation for young athletes called Always Give Back Sports. Gracen is the youngest of three brothers. The oldest one calls him G-Baby. In high school he played running back, wide receiver and tight end. Here is what he says about that. "Once I get to that sideline, the hashes, I'm gone." He was a four star recruit. He committed to Oregon, and then on national signing day he flipped to the Oklahoma Sooners. Then came the part nobody posts about. As a freshman he played 10 games and made 10 tackles. As a sophomore he played 11 games and made 11 tackles. Twenty one tackles in two years. Everybody transfers now. He did not. Here is how he describes those two years. "Things got harder in Oklahoma, I just kept on going, had the horse blinders on and kept on moving forward." He also kept eating. "Coming in, I was 250 and leaving I was about 292, 295." In 2024 it finally turned. Thirty tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a safety. He could have gone to the NFL right then. He stayed for a fourth year instead. They made him a captain. He finished with 33 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three and a half sacks, and a fumble he recovered and ran into the end zone. Second team All-SEC, and SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. At the combine he measured 6 foot 2 and 293 pounds, and he jumped higher than any other defensive tackle there. The San Francisco 49ers took him 107th overall in the fourth round. Here is what he said about that. "Being in Oklahoma for four years, they couldn't really come as much as they wanted to. So to just know that I'm up the road, they're all going to come out." Now today, at Lumen Field. He got his first career sack. Then he hit George Holani in the backfield, the ball came out, and Halton landed on it in the end zone. San Francisco 32, Seattle 29. The 49ers are 5 and 0. So a kid who used to carry the football showed up 250 pounds, made 21 tackles in two years, and stayed anyway. Today he got into an end zone for the first time since high school.