Ben Graham (footballer)

Australian rules footballer and American football player (born 1973)

Benjamin James Graham (born 2 November 1973) is a former professional Australian rules footballer turned professional American football punter of the National Football League (NFL), and is currently the Strategic Operations Manager of the Western Bulldogs. Graham's 219 game Australian rules career was played exclusively at the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1993 and 2004. As an Aussie rules player, Graham was long noted for his ability to kick extraordinarily long distances with accuracy (in particular his expertise at the torpedo punt). This is one of the key reasons that he was believed to have potential as a professional NFL punter. The left footer played for the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. He is the only player to be named a captain of both an AFL and NFL side. During his career, he played in the biggest game of both codes, the AFL Grand Final (1995 AFL Grand Final) and the Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLIII). He was the first Australian to have played in a Super Bowl.

Graham was born in Geelong to mother, Helen, and father, Tony. He grew up in Leopold, Victoria, and began playing Aussie rules at a young age for the local Leopold Football Club in the Bellarine Football League, where his father was a former premiership player and coach. Graham's football ability was obvious from an early age, and he was selected by the Geelong U19s (now Geelong Falcons), where he was first identified by AFL talent scouts.

Graham was first approached by the New York Jets to try out as a punter in 1997; however, he decided to stay in the AFL. In 2004, he surprised many in Australia when he quit Australian rules football and left for the United States to pursue a career as a punter in the National Football League, where he would ultimately be paid many times more than he would have earned in Australia and extended his playing career by many years.

Graham was signed to a short term contract by the New York Jets in January 2005. On 22 May 2006, the Jets signed Graham to a six year contract worth US$5.17 million. Graham also used the Australian drop punt—a style of kicking prevalent in Australian rules football first introduced in 1997 to the NFL by fellow Australian Darren Bennett—which improves kicking efficiency and is said to be a new introduction to the game of American football. The Jets waived Graham on 16 September 2008, but he did not miss a game: they quickly re signed him on 22 September due to a minor injury to his replacement Reggie Hodges. Graham was released again on 29 September after Hodges recovered.

On 20 October 2008, Graham signed with the New Orleans Saints to play a game in London. The team had released incumbent punter Steve Weatherford earlier in the week due to travel arrangement issues. He played just the one game, punting three times with an average of 42 yards, before being released on 29 October. He was replaced by Glenn Pakulak.

Graham was signed by the Arizona Cardinals on 1 December 2008 after the team released punter Dirk Johnson; this was the second time that Johnson had been replaced by an Australian punter. In the NFC Championship game that year, Graham's Cardinals played the Philadelphia Eagles, whose punter, Sav Rocca, also was an ex AFL player from Collingwood and North Melbourne. This guaranteed that one of the two would be the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl. The Cardinals' victory presented that honour to Graham. The Cardinals released Graham on 2 September 2011, before the start of the season. But they re signed him on 5 October; he was released again on 11 October, after one game covering for the injured Dave Zastudil.

On 15 November 2011, Graham signed with the Detroit Lions, replacing Robert Malone. Malone had played only one game after replacing the injured Ryan Donahue. During the 2012 preseason, Graham beat out Donahue for the starting job. On 25 September 2012, Graham was placed on the season ending injured reserve list. Nick Harris was signed to replace Graham for the remainder of the season. He was released with an injury settlement later that season.

In 2011 with the NFL lockout looming, Graham announced his intention to play for the Australian National team in the 2011 IFAF World Cup, the official international American Football championship tournament. Later, he officially was added to the roster as the country's starting punter.

Graham and his wife, Katie, have two daughters, Sophie and Rosie, and one son, Jack. While playing for the Cats, Graham attended Deakin University in Geelong. Graham's father and his younger brother, Sam, attended Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida, to watch him when he played for the Arizona Cardinals. Graham's mother, Helen, died from cancer on 21 April 2009.