Jimmy Graham's gamble paying off

MOBILE -- Jimmy Graham's decision to quit basketball last year and take a chance on football is beginning to look like sound judgment.

Few NFL prospects competing in the Senior Bowl this Saturday have potentially more to gain with a strong performance than Graham, the 6-7, 258-pound tight end who played just one season for coach Randy Shannon and the Miami Hurricanes. Graham already has met with representatives from nearly every NFL team this week and his draft stock appears to be rising after each practice at Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

``I like what I've seen out of him,'' Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. ``He's a good prospect, without a doubt. This will be a great experience for him this week.''

Sparano and the Dolphins' coaching staff are instructing the Senior Bowl's South team, which includes Graham and former Hurricanes inside linebacker Darryl Sharpton. Kickoff is 4 p.m. Saturday on NFL Network.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is the fan favorite in Mobile, but lesser-known players such as Graham have received plenty of attention from NFL scouts, coaches and executives this week. Graham is currently being projected as a mid-round selection for April's NFL Draft.

``I feel like I've got my best years ahead of me and I've just kind of scratched the surface and just learning things,'' Graham said. ``I accomplished a little bit this year but hopefully I'll have an opportunity to accomplish a lot more at the next level. I want to play football for the next 15 years.''

GREAT POTENTIAL
Graham said on Wednesday that he has a one-on-one interview scheduled later this week with Dolphins' general manager Jeff Ireland.
Graham's potential and athleticism are obvious. The former Hurricanes basketball player has the pass-catching skills that every team in the NFL craves. He is the tallest player in the Senior Bowl and is beginning to draw comparisons to NFL tight ends Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez.

``I've been told I've got great hands and can get vertical and catch touchdowns,'' Graham said. ``I've been pretty busy the last couple days. Kind of coming from nowhere, people have a lot of questions.''

Graham has already met with a few general managers this week. He described the interviews as ``serious business'' but good experiences for the upcoming NFL Combine, when everything about Graham's personality will be scrutinized and analyzed. The one question everyone asked Graham this week: Why did you quit basketball?

``I tell them [football] was my first love and I turned down six figures overseas to play basketball,'' Graham said. ``I did that because I didn't want to go through the rest of my life saying what if. The `what if' turned into an `I can' and it's been a great experience.''

RISK BECOMES REWARD
Graham last played organized football as a freshman in high school before suiting up for the Hurricanes in 2009. As an underclassman, Miami's football players joked that Graham likely would have been a better football player than basketball player if the North Carolina native had grown up in South Florida.

The running joke turned serious when Graham sacrificed an opportunity to play professional basketball to play football. He added muscle to his frame, learned a few blocking techniques and became one of the Miami's top targets in the red zone. He finished 2009 with five touchdown receptions.

``I've been playing this game six months and I'm here,'' Graham said of his invitation to the Senior Bowl. ``I believe I had a great season. I caught five touchdowns and the first time I put on pads was in August.''

Graham signed with sports agent Jimmy Sexton after the season and trained with Tebow in Nashville for two weeks before flying to Mobile for the Senior Bowl. Tebow and Graham have forged a friendship over the past month. Florida's former quarterback is quick to gush about Graham's football potential.

``I think he's a very talented player with a very big upside,'' Tebow said. ``I think his football ability is just going to keep increasing. He's someone that can fill out and keep getting stronger.

``He's very athletic. He's like 6-7 with a 39-inch vertical leap. When he keeps practicing, he's just going to keep getting better and better and he's going to be a good NFL tight end.''


(miamiherald.com)