Good read, from an AU newspaper: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24977058-11088,00.html Ben Graham says US move was worth the punt Article from: Herald Sun January 29, 2009 12:00am FOUR months ago I thought my world was crashing. September 17, 2008 was a bad day. Everything we'd worked so hard for for three years was gone. It vanished and disappeared in the blink of an eye. What was I going to tell my wife Katie? How were the kids going to react? Where was our life headed? I sat in my car at the New York Jets' new $150 million training facility wondering where it all went wrong. I am the first to admit I had a poor game the previous Sunday against bitter rivals the New England Patriots. But enough to be sacked? I didn't think so. But this was only the introduction to the business side of the NFL. Things would get worse before they would get better. I went home in tears, but Katie was strong from the outset. "It's OK," she said. "We will get another chance. We'll turn it around." Unemployed and with my career on the line, I went to San Diego to see Darren Bennett. He has been my mentor. We practised and finetuned things and talked about life over a few VBs. Then a strange thing happened. His wife answered the phone that Saturday and said the Jets were on the line. They were in San Diego for Monday night football and their new punter, my replacement, was injured. They asked me back. So back I went, but now it was a business. It was about my family. It's funny to go back and see the reaction from your teammates when you have been sacked. They couldn't believe it. Their reaction justified my feelings. After two games it was Groundhog Day. Sacked again. A fortnight of the Jets convincing me I was wanted fell quickly by the wayside. This time there were no explanations and no goodbyes. I was on the way to the team photo when the tap on the shoulder came. When I packed my bags there was no one to say goodbye to. They were all lined up in formation in front of the camera. Like I did in my 14 years at Geelong, I gave my heart and soul to the Jets. I believed I was going to punt for them for another 14 years. The NFL is a results-based industry and in challenging myself to become the best punter in the league, I allowed myself to become the person people wanted me to be, and forgot that my own natural ability got me here in the first place. Two months later and with the exception of a bizarre week representing New Orleans, in London of all places, I was still unemployed. We had looked quickly at houses and schools in New Orleans, but the phone call came again. But it was during this time that I re-found my love for my craft and my competitive spirit. Katie and I watched more football in those eight weeks than ever before. The slightest sniff of a job prospect was enough motivation for me to go for a run, take the bag of balls to the park or go to the gym. When you're out of work it's not like you can keep your feet up all day. My wife was amazing. At times I was depressed and didn't want to get out of bed. But she'd remind me of what we were here for. If I was down and depressed she'd kick me out of the house. She was always up around me; it was only when I wasn't around that she'd let herself cry. "I hate this life," she'd say sometimes out loud. But she was always strong with me. Each day my confidence re-emerged, and the belief in my own ability was coming back. Most punters in the league have been through this before. An NFL coach once told me this has to happen for kickers and punters to really want it and to realise their potential. Tryouts with four other teams and calls from three more came to nothing. The pressure grew. My oldest daughter Sophie, 9, would ask her mum each night: "How is Dad doing? Is he OK? Does he have a team yet?" This period taught me some valuable lessons. During these difficult times you find out who your friends are and how strong your family really is. Don't think I'm looking for sympathy, because I know there are plenty of people out there less fortunate than us. But compared to what we'd enjoyed in our life, this was rock bottom. However, the time at home revealed how much we love living in the US, how the girls' education needed to be as stable as possible and how much Katie and I relied on each other because our family support networks were so far away. But there were plenty of thoughts and discussions of returning home to Australia. What would we do? Where would I work? Would I even get a job? Where would the girls go to school? We did agree that we would eventually return to Australia, but on our terms. All I needed was the right opportunity, even if that came during the off-season in 2009. We decided to stay for as long as we could awaiting the next opportunity. A funny thing happened on November 28, 2008. The phone rang. And Katie said: "Please let it be the Arizona Cardinals." She longed for that job. It's closer to the west coast and has easier access to Australia, she figured. It was cheaper than New York and had wonderful weather. It was a pipedream. It was them. "It's fate," she said. "It's meant to be." I was more realistic; I flew there with just a pair of cleats and a change of underpants. The tryout went well and the Cardinals wanted to make a change. I said: "Where do I sign?" I rang Katie and she cried. I wouldn't see her and the kids again for a month, when they flew out to join me for Christmas. My parents and Katie's parents have been great support. Dad is proud every Friday night when he walks into the Sportsmans club in Leopold and the locals ask after me. Sadly Mum can't make it. She is battling her third bout of cancer. Doctors said she can't travel. She has an aggressive tumour in the liver, but is responding well to treatment. Her and Dad never want me to worry. The thought of seeing her grandkids again keeps her going. I will spare a thought for her on Monday. I recently heard a quote from Mike Shanahan after he was fired from the Denver Broncos coaching job -- "Tough times don't last, but tough people do". I thought to myself "that's us". We stuck together, believed in my ability and remained focused. Regardless of who won last week's NFC Championship game between the Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles, an Australian would have been playing in the Super Bowl for the first time. The significance was not lost on Sav Rocca or I. Sav and I often talk about our experiences and it is great to have another family in a similar position to talk to. I would have been just as thrilled to see him play in the big game. I get asked all the time about Geelong. "How did it feel to miss the premiership?" people ask. I couldn't be happier for the boys. I would never have been part of it. My career would have been long over by the time they won. They are great blokes and their text messages mean the world. When I retired in November 2004 I had seven months until training camp, July 2005, to see if I'd make it. To find out whether I'd made the right call. It was a strange time with all of your thoughts. I had no real doubts, but time is your enemy. And you draw motivation from anyone and anywhere. Something Mark "Bomber" Thompson said helped. He originally told me to go and try out, but as long as I was back for next season. When I retired he said I was replaceable. "He's finally got the opportunity to play in a decent side we think and he's just got up and walked away," he said in the Herald Sun. "That's the hard thing to understand. It's going to be Ben's loss and not ours. We can cover Ben." Harmless enough, but also enough for me to use as motivation. I was using all I could at that stage. The last eight weeks have been surreal. The Cardinals clinched the NFC West and hosted a playoff game for the first time in 61 years. We started underdogs in the first playoff but we've won three, including the NFC Championship game. I have to keep pinching myself. From unemployed to the Super Bowl in eight weeks. I still can't believe it. The build-up has been phenomenal. No wonder the NFL needs a weekend off before the game. Taking my family onto the team plane to Tampa was extraordinary, and media day was as surreal as it gets. By all reports it is going to get even crazier, even by American standards. And I love it. The Cardinals are doing a great job in preparing the players for the game while limiting the distractions. We go into the Super Bowl as underdogs. The Pittsburgh Steelers are deserved AFC champions with the league's No. 1-ranked defence, so it should be a great game against our high-powered offence featuring Larry Fitzgerald. Watch for him on Monday - he is as good an athlete as I've played with. I've been asked all week how I will handle the pressure of the Super Bowl. In my mind it is just another game. I am just happy to be here playing my role on this great football team. Pressure is a privilege. It means I am playing football when I could have been experiencing the alternative, sitting on the couch watching the game under no pressure. I'll be representing the Arizona Cardinals and family and friends back home. I hope to do everybody proud.
I loved Graham when he was with the Jets up until about a year and a half ago. I still like the guy but he wasn't producing. From what I've seen with him in a Cards uni, he isn't doing that well there either.
Ben Graham gets ripped on this forum alot, and I understand the guy was horrible last season. But isn't he our all time leading punter when it comes to Yards Per Punt? I'm pretty sure he is.
If there was a bigger Ben fan than I was on these boards, please tell me who you are (outside of our Aussie friends). Ben's game went downhill... his best year was his first. I still don't understand why. He really hasn't played that well for Arizona either, but sometimes, good people have good things happen for them. Ben Graham is a good person. I'll always like the guy. I hope he gets his Super Bowl ring, I hope he can stay in the league for a few more years. The story book ending I wanted was for BG to get that ring as a Jet. This is a nice second ending. All too often we as fans treat these athletes as chess pieces. Reading this makes me remember that they are people, and not all athletes are jerks, which sometimes is hard to rememeber. This week, I am an Arizona Cardinals fan. Good luck Ben. Hope you have a great game. TBJ
Sounds like he has a great wife. All of you young guys, that's the kind of woman you want to marry - one that will be supportive while giving you a kick in the ass when life gets tough, not one who looks for every opportunity to run you down when you fall on your ass.
... "We practised and finetuned things and talked about life over a few VBs." Just curious, anyone know what a VB is?
I wish Ben Graham all the best for the Sb. He was one of Mangini's bs motivational Cuts! Hopefully our guys can go play Football and not be scared to make a mistake.
Cool article. To me hHe went a bit over the top for me about all his self-belief & inner pressure, but I'm sure he was sincere in every word, and I wish him luck on Sunday!
Graham was touted to have the "spiral-gyro-end-over-end" punt that no one could catch. I never saw one player drop the ball on a punt because of this style. Have you? He was overrated at best. He'll fuck up in the Super Bowl.
Well said Tbird. And thanks for sticking up for 'just the fucking punter' in that first year when all the Aussies arrived here seeking information.
Yes, I have... not in a game, but at JETS TC at Hofstra it happened all the time. Why that did not ever translate into a real game is another thing I will never understand. There WAS a reason you heard about that style of punting... anyone who went to TC including the beat writers knew about it. He made some Jets punt returners look foolish on a regular basis. It sounds like you wish him bad luck... no, clearly you do. I hope you are wrong. I also hope for something else, but I'll let that go unsaid.
Well, I already knew how much the kicking game (which translates into field position) was and remains an under-appreciated part of the NFL game. The best punter of all time, Ray Guy is still not in the NFL hall of fame. Ben's upside was so high... it just never really got from the practice field to the real games. He DID give us two pretty good years, he made some plays that most now forget, including avoiding at least 3 blocked punts along the way entirely on his own. I never met him, but saw him up close at TC many times. The man had an engaging smile, and he seemed to be smiling most of the time, enjoying his time here those first 2 years. I suppose I'm more a fan of the man, not the football player. He came here on a major gamble, made the team against the odds, and did OK. I wonder how some of his detractors would feel about having me follow them around and boo them at work when they f up. Now THAT would be fun! S Don, I enjoyed those years... and enjoyed doing those BG reports, but even that drew so much critisism, I left this site for over a year. Some people just aren't happy unless they are bashing others to make their own pitiful lives seem somehow more significant. Water under the bridge, but there are always new assholes to replace the old ones. :drunk:
True, check yourself before you get sucked into shitty debates in here. Hang in the BS section for a while and chill out.
I thought this line was interesting. I allowed myself to become the person people wanted me to be, and forgot that my own natural ability got me here in the first place. Could it be that he was overcoached? Is that what he is saying? If you can kick a ball like he can, you would think all you would have to say is- We want you to kick it to that spot. Welcome back TBJ! I think you were a bigger fan of Ben's then all of us aussies put together.
