New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham continues to get better and better

New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham is one of the most extraordinary people you'll ever find in a NFL locker room, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's also one of the most gifted athletes to play his position. Graham's life story has been well-documented. How he never knew his father growing up, how he was abandoned by his mother at a group home at age 11, how he was routinely beaten by older boys, how he was eventually taken in by a single mother who changed his life.

That he overcame those hurdles to become a college graduate and now a budding NFL star is remarkable. Even more remarkable is his zest for life.

It would be easy to picture Graham as a guarded or cynical person after everything he has been through. Instead, he stands out as someone who appreciates where he came from and what it took to get here.

"I know how much hard work went into me getting to this moment, so to work that hard and then not to enjoy it ..." Graham said, leaving the thought unfinished. "Not to enjoy life after so many years of not knowing, and then switching sports (from basketball to football) when you're 23 years old ... you know, life is tough, man. But whenever you've come through some things and things are a little bit easier for you, you've got to enjoy it."

From the time Graham arrived as a rookie in 2010 to his dynamic breakout performance in 2011, he has always seemed like he's just plain having a lot of fun.

And though that seems like a no-brainer, it's not always the case in the businesslike atmosphere of professional sports. He's still excited when he talks about learning the game and meeting veteran players around the NFL. It's something coaches and teammates said stands out about him.

Graham treats his whole life that way -- including his newfound passion for flying single-engine aerobatic planes. Though it might make the Saints cringe to hear about it, Graham gets especially excited when he talks about flips and stunts and inverted flights.

He has been in the air this offseason as much as he has been in the weight room or on the practice field. He has a private pilot's license, and he's working toward more advanced licenses.

He has taken friends, family and teammates for rides over the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and he's trying to convince more and more teammates to go up in the air with him.

"Flying is the most freeing thing I've ever done," Graham said. "It's incredible because you're up there, and you're by yourself. And you're in control, and there's no boundaries -- for the most part, except for storms and the ground. And if you look out for those, you can go anywhere you want."

Take your pick among the obvious transitions to Graham's football potential, to which the sky also seems to be the limit.

In just his second year with the Saints and his third year as a full-time football player, he briefly broke the NFL record for tight ends with 1,310 receiving yards last season, a mark that was broken minutes later by the New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski.

Graham caught 99 passes and 11 touchdowns while emerging as quarterback Drew Brees' go-to target and the first Pro Bowl skill-position player in the Brees-Sean Payton era.

At 6 feet 7 inches and 265 pounds, Graham has a rare combination of size and athleticism that has made him into a new breed of weapon for the new pass-happy league.

It's amazing to consider that he's still just tapping into his potential, but that's exactly how he feels heading into his third season. It wasn't long ago, he recalled, that he still was learning the difference between 4-3 and 3-4 defenses.

"I see there's a lot of room for improvement whenever I watch film. There's a lot of stuff I left out there that I'm still agitated about," said Graham, who was then asked to describe what he can improve on.

"The little things, the things people don't notice," Graham said. "I see an extra 30 receptions out there that I left. I see chances where I could have done a little bit more on some blocks, sprung a couple of running backs free for a couple more yards, just things like that. You know, I'm a young player, and I'm young to the game, so every day is a learning experience for me."

So far, Graham seems to be picking up where he left off on the practice field. He has been the unofficial leader in receptions during the handful of summer practice sessions open to the media.

He's an obvious safety net for current quarterback Chase Daniel, just as he has been for Brees. On Tuesday, Daniel floated one short pass high into the air like an alley oop, and Graham made an athletic leap to get his fingertips on it and tip it to himself.

Graham knows that opposing defenses will pay a lot more attention to him now that he's not a secret weapon anymore, but that's something he saw midway through his historic 2011 season. And it helps that the Saints' offense is so loaded with weapons that defenses have to pick their poison.

"At the end of last year I think teams played a little bit more detailed to me," Graham said. "I could tell that they were just paying attention to me more and playing different looks, and I was still able to find some holes. And with this offense that we have, it's hard to really stop one person because if you're focusing on one person, (Marques) Colston is going to go out there and light it up. Or (Darren) Sproles. Or Devery (Henderson).

"We are so dynamic, and we have so many weapons, and that biggest weapon being Drew Brees, so it's hard to really defend that."

Graham has also gotten more attention off the field this year, as expected, along with his newfound celebrity. But he has embraced that too.

He got to tell his life story to Oprah Winfrey. He got to mentor a troubled teenager as part of USA Network project. He hosted a youth football camp in New Orleans.

"A chance to maybe touch a little kid and to really inspire him to maybe become something or get through something is why I do it," Graham said. "To have a camp here and then to give the proceeds to Boys Town Louisiana and help those kids out that really need it means a lot to me.

"These are great opportunities for me."

And he's enjoying them all to the fullest.


(nola.com)