cowboyjoe
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.Now this is what we need zoners, teams maybe going for a player like Graham, that may cause a player like Iupati or Kyle Wilson or Odrick for example falling to us due to teams taking a player like this;
A squeaky clean' history and leadership role increases value of Michigan's Graham
When the calls started piling up, Rod Oden couldn't believe it.
He knew one of the best football players Oden and Detroit Crockett ever had, Brandon Graham, would soon be an NFL first-round draft pick.
NFL scouts were blowing up his phone "all day, every day" trying to get the goods on Graham.
"It surprised me that they would come back that far," Oden said, knowing that Graham had spent his past four years at Michigan, dominating as a linebacker and defensive end. "Talking to some of the scouts, they go back even father. Jacksonville said they sometimes go back to elementary school."
Many of the teams called trying to verify Graham's stories. No problem there - scouts called Graham "squeaky clean," according to Oden.
"They talked to the principal, the counselors, and the teachers. 'They all speak so highly of him. How does a kid plays that level of football and never get in trouble?' He's just a very likeable guy," Oden said.
That's the part not reported by mock draft analysts, but likely to draw major consideration in teams' war rooms. To get a player with Graham's production at Michigan - he won the Silver Football as the Big Ten's MVP as a senior - who is also a great guy seemed too good to be true.
The National Football Post reported last week that Graham visited the New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets and met with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Ann Arbor.
"It's different styles, different coaches and the questions are mostly about what am I going to do when I get the money, how I'm going to handle all the pressure, how I'll be with the media," Graham said.
Having a year in a leadership role at Michigan helped him in the draft process, he said.
"I think that gives me an advantage," Graham said. "I was the head guy people wanted to talk to so it gave me some practice for what's to come. I think that was a real big thing."
Thanks to former Wolverines like LaMarr Woodley, Graham was prepped for the trips to be filled with questions and said "there was nothing out of the ordinary."
"You just make sure you're ready for them," he said. "I know I'm in the great spot."
That spot seems to be heading north. While Graham was considered a borderline first-round pick before his impressive senior season and at the bottom of the round by season's end, his stock has risen since. He has been pegged as high as No. 19, where both ESPN analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have him. (The Free Press' mock draft has Graham going to San Francisco at No. 17.)
"I like to hear it," Graham said, laughing. "I was on a visit and we were sitting at lunch, and they had mock drafts with McShay talking on there. The coaches were sitting around, saying, 'I wonder who they think we're going to pick today.' I don't get off into it. It's a good thing my name is being ringed on ESPN but most of time they don't know."
The Crockett staff plans to make Graham's selection a big deal in the school's halls. A few days after the draft, true to his roots, he'll be back at the school, inspiring the ninth graders.
Every time Graham pulls the 'aw shucks' routine, Oden sets him straight.
"It's a blessing," Oden said. "He was saying, 'coach, it's not that big of a deal.' I told him the school is making a big deal. We don't have (future) first round draft picks walking around here very often."
___
(c) 2010, Detroit Free Press.
Visit the Freep, the World Wide Web site of the Detroit Free Press, at http://www.freep.com.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
A squeaky clean' history and leadership role increases value of Michigan's Graham
When the calls started piling up, Rod Oden couldn't believe it.
He knew one of the best football players Oden and Detroit Crockett ever had, Brandon Graham, would soon be an NFL first-round draft pick.
NFL scouts were blowing up his phone "all day, every day" trying to get the goods on Graham.
"It surprised me that they would come back that far," Oden said, knowing that Graham had spent his past four years at Michigan, dominating as a linebacker and defensive end. "Talking to some of the scouts, they go back even father. Jacksonville said they sometimes go back to elementary school."
Many of the teams called trying to verify Graham's stories. No problem there - scouts called Graham "squeaky clean," according to Oden.
"They talked to the principal, the counselors, and the teachers. 'They all speak so highly of him. How does a kid plays that level of football and never get in trouble?' He's just a very likeable guy," Oden said.
That's the part not reported by mock draft analysts, but likely to draw major consideration in teams' war rooms. To get a player with Graham's production at Michigan - he won the Silver Football as the Big Ten's MVP as a senior - who is also a great guy seemed too good to be true.
The National Football Post reported last week that Graham visited the New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets and met with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Ann Arbor.
"It's different styles, different coaches and the questions are mostly about what am I going to do when I get the money, how I'm going to handle all the pressure, how I'll be with the media," Graham said.
Having a year in a leadership role at Michigan helped him in the draft process, he said.
"I think that gives me an advantage," Graham said. "I was the head guy people wanted to talk to so it gave me some practice for what's to come. I think that was a real big thing."
Thanks to former Wolverines like LaMarr Woodley, Graham was prepped for the trips to be filled with questions and said "there was nothing out of the ordinary."
"You just make sure you're ready for them," he said. "I know I'm in the great spot."
That spot seems to be heading north. While Graham was considered a borderline first-round pick before his impressive senior season and at the bottom of the round by season's end, his stock has risen since. He has been pegged as high as No. 19, where both ESPN analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have him. (The Free Press' mock draft has Graham going to San Francisco at No. 17.)
"I like to hear it," Graham said, laughing. "I was on a visit and we were sitting at lunch, and they had mock drafts with McShay talking on there. The coaches were sitting around, saying, 'I wonder who they think we're going to pick today.' I don't get off into it. It's a good thing my name is being ringed on ESPN but most of time they don't know."
The Crockett staff plans to make Graham's selection a big deal in the school's halls. A few days after the draft, true to his roots, he'll be back at the school, inspiring the ninth graders.
Every time Graham pulls the 'aw shucks' routine, Oden sets him straight.
"It's a blessing," Oden said. "He was saying, 'coach, it's not that big of a deal.' I told him the school is making a big deal. We don't have (future) first round draft picks walking around here very often."
___
(c) 2010, Detroit Free Press.
Visit the Freep, the World Wide Web site of the Detroit Free Press, at http://www.freep.com.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
