John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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By Matt Lombardo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

ATLANTA -- Carla Haley was shopping at Home Depot when she felt her phone vibrate, and saw that it was her son calling her from New Jersey.

That is, Giants rookie cornerback Grant Haley.

"He called me up and he said ‘Mom, they called me up.’ And I said ‘they did what?!’" Carla told NJ Advance Media by phone on Wednesday.

"Of course," she added, "I knew exactly what that meant."

It finally happened: her son was promoted to the Giants' 53-man roster from the practice squad. After going undrafted in April, getting the opportunity to play that Monday night against the Falcons, on the road, was a special moment.

After all, he is from Atlanta.

Haley's mother will never forget the moment she found out, "standing in the middle of Home Depot," she said, "with tears running down my face, saying ‘thank you God, for giving this opportunity, and giving it to him at home.

“I tell people to walk a mile in my shoes. I have had so many things go my way, if there’s a one in a million shot for that to happen. I was thankful to God. I was thankful to the Giants. I was appreciative of his hard work, and it was very rewarding, as a parent.”

The timing couldn't have been better for the Haleys.

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Back in 2014, Grant Haley's senior year of high school, Carla was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, which is a rare and fatal liver disease that is only curable by liver transplant.

Because Haley's first game would be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, his mother, friends, and family would be able to attend.

“It definitely made it special," Grant Haley told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday at the Georgia World Congress Center. "I didn’t play too much that night, but that was the most nervous that I’ve ever been for a football game. I think just walking out there, really realizing all of the friends and dimly support that I had out there. I just took a moment and thought about it, what it’s been to go through everything … I played my last high school game at the Georgia Dome, being here and playing my first NFL game, was kind of a surreal moment that I had to take in.”

As an NFL player, Haley has already begun to use his platform to help raise awareness of his mother's disease, and help find a donor.

“We’re trying to find a living donor right now," Haley explained. "There’s a Facebook group that you can search, and see if you can get tested, go through the process and requirements to be able to give part of your liver. Ever since we’ve gotten to New York, the media has helped me really well, I can’t thank all of you enough. The numbers have grown tremendously, with people seeing if they can help.”

Carla has A-Positive blood type, which is on the rarer side, but since Haley's first training camp in August there have been at least 15 people who got themselves tested to see if they are a match.

"In August, an article came out that talked about how Grant was working so hard and part of his inspiration was what I was going through," Carla said. "From there, there was a parent at his high school that he went to, that his sister is still at, who went into the Athletic Director’s office and said ‘Have you seen this? Have you seen what’s going on with Carla?’ She was just frantic, because she didn’t know about it. We need to do more as a school community. We have to do more to help her. But, it all came from the article that she saw about Grant.

"They’ve been doing a little more about it at school. One of the mothers volunteered to be tested. We’ve had 15 different volunteers, and we’ve ruled out five of them for a variety of different reasons. We continue to work on the others. There’s hope, but I think the pool will have to get bigger to give us a chance. I’m so grateful for the 15 people, but based on the odds ratio coming down, I have A-positive blood type, but it’s more rare. Matching your blood type is the first part of the evaluation process."

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Haley consistently hovered around the roster bubble during training camp and the preseason, which can be a grueling experience for any NFL player.

However, even in the dog days of August with an uncertain future staring back at him, Haley says that he drew inspiration from his mother's strength amid adversity and from her constant selflessness.

"She’s a tough one," Haley said. "That’s where I get my inspiration and motivation every day. Even on days that I’m not having a good day, I just think about her and what she’s going through. She gets up every day and still goes to work. She takes care of other people, she’s a pediatrician. The fact that she still helps other people every day, regardless of what she’s battling through, is just tremendous to me. I think it speaks volumes of her character with everything that she goes through."

Ultimately, the Giants cut Haley prior to adding him to the 10-man practice squad. He was activated six weeks later.

Long before Haley pulled on a Giants helmet and jersey for a regular season for the first time, his football career was already making a tangible impact on Carla's fight for survival.

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Joe Hermitt | PennLive

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"I can guarantee you that helped me survive"

That year, Haley led his team to their first state championship in nearly three decades. In that time, his mother was the team's biggest supporter. She'd be at the school for "four hours a day", she said, ordering food for the team, decorating lockers, organizing events with parents, taking care of things for the team off the field, volunteering as the "team-mom."

Every Friday before a game, she used to wear a Fitbit on her wrist to track her steps. She often ended up walking more than 25,000 steps.

Carla loved doing all of it. It kept her going.

"I can guarantee you," she said. "That helped me survive."

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After graduating high school, an ironic twist of fate led Haley to his mother's alma-mater.

"I was tickled pink that he was going to Vanderbilt with James Franklin," Carla said. "I love James. I think he’s an amazing coach and great person. When James moved to Penn State, Grant looked at me and said ‘How did you do that?’ Grant was always the kid who wanted to do it his way. He always said ‘I don’t want to go to Daddy’s alma-mater, I don’t want to go to your alma-mater, I want to go to my own place, and make my own way.’ When he was going to Vanderbilt with James, everything was cool, but when James went to Penn State, Grant just looked at me and said ‘How did you do that?’"

Haley returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown that propelled the Nittany Lions past Ohio State in a 2016 regular season game at Beaver Stadium, on the road to the school's first Big Ten Championship since 2008.

Maybe even more importantly, Haley and his college teammates served as Carla's inspiration.

"I call them my boys of 2014," Carla said. "They all came in together in 2014, including Trace McSorley. I have been there, as much as I could, and made it to all but four games the whole time he was up there. I think they helped me stay well. I think they helped my healing stay well.

"They are a miracle group of kids, who came in, worked their behinds off to a common goal, and made a huge difference to a University that was struggling due to things that were above and beyond them. But, James mustered them to work as a collective and fight for something that was bigger then themselves, and I thought that was a great opportunity for my son."

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During Haley's final season at Penn State, he roomed with future Giants teammate, Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley.

“I think it was tremendous," Grant Haley said. "He’s someone who works hard. His work ethic, his positive attitude, the things he does, it carries from the field to him as a person. Being his roommate, even if I don’t want to do something, or if I’m not feeling good that day, he’s going to make sure to get me up and say ‘come on, we have to go do this.’"

When Giants rookie minicamp rolled around last May, the pair of former Nittany Lions took the opportunity to be roommates one more time.

They were also the first players in the building, long before sunrise each morning.

“Being the first ones in the locker room every day, that’s something that coach Franklin taught us," Haley explained. "When you get to the next level, or to your next job, be the first one there every day. Be attentive. That’s just something that I learned growing up."

While Barkley entered the NFL with lofty expectations as the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft, the Giants had far less invested in Haley, who signed a deal that paid him $100,000.00, with $25,000.00 guaranteed.

Haley says that having Barkley around eased his transition from being a college athlete to an NFL player.

"Just having him there, was just extra. He’s someone you can talk to outside of football. Football’s your job, now you go home, and everyone lives their own life. You don’t have roommates anymore. But, we’re still good enough friends that we can get away from the building just to talk or go chill.”

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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PFF Grade breakdown: Haley among Giants' highest-graded defenders

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Despite long odds, never any doubts ...

Even though he faced long odds, and needed to climb the depth chart in August to have a chance to make the team, Haley never doubted himself or regretted signing with the Giants.

“I don’t think I ever doubted where I was at," Haley said. "After the Draft, talking to my agent, talking to my family, we thought New York was a good place to go. I didn’t really put too much into the fact that I had a college teammate there.

"But, I think that really helped me, just having Saquon right there with me. It helped keep me motivated. I don’t think there’s ever a moment where I doubted myself. Having the leaders and support that we have on that team, and the friends that I have, they just helped me embrace the moment and embrace it was motivation.”

Despite his optimism, the grind of being on the practice squad was much tougher than Haley had anticipated.

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“It was tougher than I thought it would be," Haley said. "But, I think I needed it. Coming out of camp, I was pretty confident. I didn’t really know what the standing would be to make the 53-man roster, but I thought I did enough to be in New York and at least on the practice squad.

“Being on the practice squad was maybe the best thing to happen to me. I got to go against Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard every day in practice. I could listen to guys like Michael Thomas, and Nathan Stupar, who have been on practice squads for two or three years, just how they handled the process. They just told me ‘take notes, and be ready, because you never know when your number will be called.’ Seven or eight weeks later, my opportunity was called, and I’m just glad that I was prepared.”

Haley credits those practice battles with Beckham Jr. during the season's first six weeks with making him a much better player.

“I think it was a great experience," Haley said. "I think he’s someone who cares tremendously about his teammates. Not only is he getting himself better in practice, but he’s helping me, and helping any other cornerback with what he thinks they can do better. I think that’s one thing that really caught me off guard, and showed me how much he cares about his play and other players.

"You don’t want to hurt a guy like Odell in practice, either, so that gives you a chance to work on your technique. You don’t want to pull on him, or grab him, because you don’t want to draw a flag. It’s little things like that. Being able to go against Odell and Shepard, the different moves that they have, betting able to mirror them, and learning to play with my feet and play with my eyes and not my hands.”

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Whether it was during camp, or his time on the practice squad, Carla says that support of family and friends was a constant.

“There was always an undercurrent of ‘Grant’s gonna make it, Grant’s gonna make it, Grant’s gonna make it,’" she said. "But you and I both know that there’s a lot of other pieces that come into play, when you actually get into that position.”

That support carried through to Haley's NFL debut, that despite the fact that it was a Giants road game, it was a Haley homecoming.

"I was touched by the number of family and friends we had there," Carla said. "I guarantee you, we had close to 150 people there. There were kids from his high school, and there were some parents who had boxes already for the Falcons.

"I know at least one girl called her Dad and basically said that she didn’t know who was supposed to sit in the box on Monday night, but her and her friends were taking it over. The one box had 15 of his high school friends."

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What's next for Grant?

Haley only played four snaps in his debut against the Falcons, but he went on to become one of the Giants' highest-graded defenders, according to Pro Football Focus after posting 29 tackles, two pass breakups, and one sack.

PFF lists Haley as the No. 46 cornerback in the NFL, in an era where teams typically play three cornerbacks for the majority of snaps.

Even though he played in 39 percent of the Giants' defensive snaps, Haley is not taking anything for granted heading into his first NFL offseason.

“I want to prove to myself that being just on the 53-man roster isn’t enough," Haley said. "I want to play more. I want to contribute and make more plays. I want to be a leader. I want to be a leader on this defense. There are a lot of things that I know I can be. People don’t always know their full potential, they just keep climbing for it. I want to sit down after next year, have a conversation about what’s next, and keep growing from that. I don’t want to have a mindset where I’m comfortable in it, every single day, I’m not comfortable. If there’s a cornerback coming in behind me, I have to go harder than him.”

The Giants drafted Sam Beal in the third-round of the NFL Supplemental Draft last summer, which creates immediate competition for Haley's roster spot and starting job.

While the Giants have given Haley no indication about whether he'll be back next season, he's still on the 53-man roster, and has a list of things he hopes to improve on before the team reconvenes for voluntary OTAs this spring.

"I just need to really work on my ball-skills," Haley said. "Work on getting stronger, getting a little faster. I feel like everything in this game, now in the NFL, everyone’s fast and everyone’s strong. It’s about what’s going to put you over the top? Film study, your tecnique, all the little things that matter now. It’s not just speed and not just strength. It’s the little things. Watching film. That’s what I think is going to be the next big thing for me."

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For Carla, regardless of how this offseason and the immediate future plays out, she has nothing but gratitude for everyone who has been part of Haley's unique football journey.

"Penn State, the Giants, everyone has given Grant a voice to be part of my healing, of my survival," she said. "That’s really gratifying. Everybody has a cause. His has really been to heal me, help me stay healthy, and stay well.

"Human beings don’t get to experience how well they’re liked, perceived, or how much they’ve contributed to people’s success, while they’re here on Earth. Everyone talks about what you did, after you’re gone.

"But, people have rallied around me. Right before Grant graduated, all the coaches at Penn State signed a big poster ‘get well, see you soon,’ Every single coach signed it. Obviously, Grant didn’t work with every coach on that staff, and they might not have known me. But, it meant so much that people loved him enough and cared about him enough to help him forge his battle, to help me get better.”

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Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL