ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Former ASU running back Marion Grice released by San Diego Chargers

Sep 1, 2014, 3:58 PM | Updated: 9:41 pm

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Marion Grice, a former Arizona State running back who went sixth-round in the 2014 NFL draft, survived Saturday’s deadline of final cuts as a member of the San Diego Chargers.

While it looked like ASU’s leading rusher from last season was gearing up to play in his first NFL regular season game, it looks like he’ll have to put those plans on hold.

On Monday, the 22-year-old running back was waived by the Chargers, who in turn added Ricardo Mathews for some defensive line help.

Grice had a team-high 79 yards rushing on 17 handoffs (4.6 yards per carry) in the team’s final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals and Chargers have had some close ties of late, including being scheduled to play each other two times in a row. On Sunday, Arizona was awarded a waiver claim on outside linebacker Thomas Keiser, who was released by San Diego a day earlier.

Grice, a Houston native, came out of junior college and racked up 1,675 yards on 294 attempts (5.7 yards per carry) with 25 touchdowns in his two-year Sun Devils career. He also caught 91 passes out of the backfield for 863 yards and 14 scores.

The Chargers open the season next Monday night against the Cardinals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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