Sal Maiorana - Buffalo rookie wide receiver T.J. Graham has heard the characterization on every step of his football journey — he’s just a track star who’s trying to play football.
“Been hearing that my whole life,” Graham said during a break from Bills training camp at St. John Fisher College a few days ago.
Of course, it’s not hard to understand why.
First of all, he was a track star growing up in Raleigh, N.C., a nationally ranked sprinter in high school who finished third in the country in the 100-meter dash at the Nike Nationals in 2007, and was North Carolina state champ in the 100 and 200. When he stayed home to attend North Carolina State (on a football scholarship, mind you), he took a few years off from track, but then ran his senior year and earned all-ACC and All-America recognition in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Then there’s his family’s track pedigree. His father, Trevor, was on Jamaica’s 1988 Olympic silver-medal winning 400-meter relay team in Seoul, and later was a renowned coach who mentored the likes of Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin before being banned for life seven years ago due to his involvement in the BALCO steroids scandal. T.J.’s mother, Ann, was a college All-American at St. Augustine’s, and his younger sister, Ariah, who will enroll at North Carolina State in a couple weeks, is the national high school champion in the indoor 400 meters.
Had Graham not preferred football to track, and continued to run when he entered North Carolina State, you might have seen him competing in the recently-completed Summer Olympics in London against Gatlin and the great Usain Bolt rather than running routes in Pittsford against fellow rookie Stephon Gilmore. He was that fast.
However, football was and is his true love, and now he’s on a mission to disprove, once and for all, that he’s not a track star playing football, but that he’s a football star who used to run track.
“Having that track guy label has been kind of a bad thing because people think I can only run fast straight,” Graham said. “But I’ve always considered myself someone who can run routes and I had to come out here and show it. There might be times when the routes aren’t as crisp, but everyone has those moments.”The Bills knew Graham would be a project as he adapted to the NFL game, and they hope he rewards their belief in him. His numbers were not eye-popping in college (46 games, 22 starts, 99 catches for 1,453 yards and 12 TDs), but someone that fast, with obvious ability that just needed to be honed, was a gamble they were willing to take in the third round in April.“He has done some really good things,” coach Chan Gailey said. “He has come a long way, in my opinion, since the first week of OTA’s. I don’t think he’s there yet; we don’t have very many players that are there yet, they all can improve. I think he’s getting a lot better and I like his progress so far. He has too many mental errors right now and we have to alleviate those.”
Graham had a decent preseason debut in the loss to Washington as he caught three passes for 37 yards. Now, he’s looking to improve on that performance Friday when the Bills visit Minnesota.
“It went well and I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be,” he said. “I just tried to keep my cool and execute. I’m glad I got it out of the way; now there’s no more excuses that I’ve never had a game under my belt. I have to go build on what I put down and come out this week and do a lot better.”
Graham explains his relative calm before the Redskins game this way: “It’s something I’ve always wanted. I’ve always had dreams and always envisioned myself being here so there’s no need to be afraid of what you want. I wanted this opportunity and I embraced it instead of being scared.”
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and No. 1 receiver Stevie Johnson were both impressed. Johnson sat out the OTA portion of the offseason and he was able to watch Graham while giving him pointers along the way.
“He has football instincts and it’s early,” said Johnson. “Some guys get that in the second or third year, but he’s jumped from the OTAs to training camp pretty fast and that’s only going to benefit us. I believe he’s going to be a playmaker for us. We’ve got a good pick in that kid.”
Fitzpatrick is still trying to build a rapport with Graham because there aren’t a whole lot of times when they’re on the field together during camp practices because Graham is buried on the depth chart. Still, the quarterback sees some traits that are going to serve Graham well.
“A lot has been made of his study habits and that’s fine, he studies, but his progress is not just the mental side of it,” said Fitzpatrick. “I think he’s learning how to be a receiver. He has done a nice job and he just needs to continue to get better. He’s certainly not there or not even close to being where he has the potential to be, but he’s doing a good job in terms of getting better every practice so hopefully that continues.
“Been hearing that my whole life,” Graham said during a break from Bills training camp at St. John Fisher College a few days ago.
Of course, it’s not hard to understand why.
First of all, he was a track star growing up in Raleigh, N.C., a nationally ranked sprinter in high school who finished third in the country in the 100-meter dash at the Nike Nationals in 2007, and was North Carolina state champ in the 100 and 200. When he stayed home to attend North Carolina State (on a football scholarship, mind you), he took a few years off from track, but then ran his senior year and earned all-ACC and All-America recognition in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Then there’s his family’s track pedigree. His father, Trevor, was on Jamaica’s 1988 Olympic silver-medal winning 400-meter relay team in Seoul, and later was a renowned coach who mentored the likes of Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin before being banned for life seven years ago due to his involvement in the BALCO steroids scandal. T.J.’s mother, Ann, was a college All-American at St. Augustine’s, and his younger sister, Ariah, who will enroll at North Carolina State in a couple weeks, is the national high school champion in the indoor 400 meters.
Had Graham not preferred football to track, and continued to run when he entered North Carolina State, you might have seen him competing in the recently-completed Summer Olympics in London against Gatlin and the great Usain Bolt rather than running routes in Pittsford against fellow rookie Stephon Gilmore. He was that fast.
However, football was and is his true love, and now he’s on a mission to disprove, once and for all, that he’s not a track star playing football, but that he’s a football star who used to run track.
“Having that track guy label has been kind of a bad thing because people think I can only run fast straight,” Graham said. “But I’ve always considered myself someone who can run routes and I had to come out here and show it. There might be times when the routes aren’t as crisp, but everyone has those moments.”The Bills knew Graham would be a project as he adapted to the NFL game, and they hope he rewards their belief in him. His numbers were not eye-popping in college (46 games, 22 starts, 99 catches for 1,453 yards and 12 TDs), but someone that fast, with obvious ability that just needed to be honed, was a gamble they were willing to take in the third round in April.“He has done some really good things,” coach Chan Gailey said. “He has come a long way, in my opinion, since the first week of OTA’s. I don’t think he’s there yet; we don’t have very many players that are there yet, they all can improve. I think he’s getting a lot better and I like his progress so far. He has too many mental errors right now and we have to alleviate those.”
Graham had a decent preseason debut in the loss to Washington as he caught three passes for 37 yards. Now, he’s looking to improve on that performance Friday when the Bills visit Minnesota.
“It went well and I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be,” he said. “I just tried to keep my cool and execute. I’m glad I got it out of the way; now there’s no more excuses that I’ve never had a game under my belt. I have to go build on what I put down and come out this week and do a lot better.”
Graham explains his relative calm before the Redskins game this way: “It’s something I’ve always wanted. I’ve always had dreams and always envisioned myself being here so there’s no need to be afraid of what you want. I wanted this opportunity and I embraced it instead of being scared.”
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and No. 1 receiver Stevie Johnson were both impressed. Johnson sat out the OTA portion of the offseason and he was able to watch Graham while giving him pointers along the way.
“He has football instincts and it’s early,” said Johnson. “Some guys get that in the second or third year, but he’s jumped from the OTAs to training camp pretty fast and that’s only going to benefit us. I believe he’s going to be a playmaker for us. We’ve got a good pick in that kid.”
Fitzpatrick is still trying to build a rapport with Graham because there aren’t a whole lot of times when they’re on the field together during camp practices because Graham is buried on the depth chart. Still, the quarterback sees some traits that are going to serve Graham well.
“A lot has been made of his study habits and that’s fine, he studies, but his progress is not just the mental side of it,” said Fitzpatrick. “I think he’s learning how to be a receiver. He has done a nice job and he just needs to continue to get better. He’s certainly not there or not even close to being where he has the potential to be, but he’s doing a good job in terms of getting better every practice so hopefully that continues.
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