SEATTLE — New Seattle Seahawk Jimmy Graham was as surprised as anybody when he received a phone call from New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton informing him he had been traded.
Graham then quickly started going through a mental checklist of NFL teams that had significant amounts of salary-cap space and thought he might be headed somewhere like Oakland or Jacksonville. So when Payton finished telling the All-Pro tight end about the trade, Graham was pretty excited to learn his destination.
“I was going through the list of everyone who had a bunch of cap space, thinking either Jacksonville or Oakland or somewhere, but when he told me Seattle, it definitely put a grin on my face,” Graham said on a conference call. “I’ve had some battles, clearly, against their defense the last couple of years. … So for me it was a moment of shock, but once that shock cleared, I realized that I was going to the best team in football.”
Graham got the news while on a beach in Florida, having flown to said beach for lunch in his Beechcraft Bonanza airplane following a morning workout — in addition to being an NFL star, Graham also flies airplanes in his spare time. A day later he was in Seattle talking to head coach Pete Carroll and taking a physical.
At the Seahawks’ Renton headquarters, Graham was impressed with the “buzz around there, a sense of urgency.” Carroll also made an impression by knowing a lot of details about Graham including, “stuff I had forgotten about.”
“Man I love him,” Graham said. “He puts a smile on my face. He really is a player’s coach.”
While those two didn’t go into great detail about Graham’s role in the offense just yet, he is already studying tape and sees ways he can help, both as a pass catcher, and as somebody whose presence can open things up for Marshawn Lynch and the running game.
“I’ve been watching some film and it seems like a lot of teams play a lot of cover zero against them because of Marshawn Lynch and that read option is so good. … I think eventually teams won’t be able to do that. You won’t be able to go cover zero to stop the run, and I think I can help open that up. And then in the red zone, that’s something I’ve always been good at. I’m 6-7, 260 pounds, most of those are like a rebound for me,” said Graham, who went to the University of Miami on a basketball scholarship before eventually taking up football.
“I’m looking to really fit in wherever they need me. I’m a team player and I’m all about winning. Wherever they want me and whatever they want me to do I’m 100 percent on board, and that’s with anything.”
Being a team player, Graham realizes, could mean a decrease in production. After averaging 88.5 catches, 1,099 yards and 11.5 touchdowns per season over the last four years in New Orleans, Graham might see those numbers go down in a more balanced offense. But having been to the playoffs three times without a Super Bowl berth to show for it, he is more interested in getting where the Seahawks have been the past two years than piling up stats.
“Out there in New Orleans we’ve really been flinging the rock,” he said. “For me it’s all about winning. It’s all about having an opportunity and a chance at winning a championship, and that’s all I care about. If a team needs me to catch 100 footballs or a team needs me to catch 30, or a team needs me to catch 15 touchdowns or 5 touchdowns, I’m going to do it.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. I’m not complaining at all about any of that. I just want to be part of this team and I want to be there in big moments for this team to help us win games.”
One of the first orders of business for Graham this offseason will be to make plans with Russell Wilson. The Seahawks’ quarterback was one of the first people to reach out to Graham following the trade, and knowing how important his chemistry with Drew Brees was to their success in New Orleans, Graham can’t wait to start working with Wilson this offseason.
“I said, ‘I’m going to go wherever I need to go and I’m going to be wherever I need to be to be with you and to work on this chemistry,’ because the most important thing is chemistry, and the only way to work on that is time,” Graham said. “You’ve got to run those routes and you’ve got to catch and throw. I’m really looking forward to getting with him and learning more about him as a player, as a thrower, as a passer. I’m excited for it.”
And for those worried about another awkward situation with the No. 80 jersey, Graham won’t attempt to wear Steve Largent’s retired number, which happened briefly when Jerry Rice played for the Seahawks. Not long after becoming a Seahawk, Graham actually remembered seeing No. 80 hanging from the rafters at CenturyLink Field, and he is fine with choosing something else, likely, No. 88.
Graham also tried to downplay the idea of any bad blood between him and certain members of the Seahawks’ defense like Bruce Irvin, with whom Graham had a pregame altercation in a January, 2014 playoff game, or Michael Bennett, who called Graham overrated after that game.
“Whenever we’re all getting ready for a playoff game, you know how serious those games are and you try to motivate your guys,” he said. “There’s a lot of emotion that goes into those games, and when I play, it’s all about winning and it’s all about doing whatever it takes to fire guys up and to get that emotion running. For me, that’s just a part of the game. We play a contact sport and it’s aggressive, and you have to be aggressive in everything you do.”
If anything, Graham isn’t angry about the trash talk between him and the Seahawks in 2013, but rather impressed by what he saw in two meetings with Seattle.
“I would say right after the first game, the first thing I noticed was how close they were as an entire unit,” he said. “Not only their defense but their offense. When their offense is on the field, their defensive guys are right there screaming and yelling and literally being fans of their offense. And when their defense is out there their offensive guys are doing the same thing.
“It just seems like they have a culture there that kind of breeds a brotherhood, and they pull for each other and they kind of compete, and it seems like for them it’s all about winning. It’s not about individual anything, but about what does it take to get the win? I’m really looking forward to being a part of that.”
Schofield signs with Falcons
Defensive end O’Brien Schofield, who spent the past two seasons in Seattle, is headed to Atlanta, the Falcons announced Thursday. Schofield will be reunited with former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who took over the Falcons head coaching job this offseason.
Schofield appeared in 31 games over the past two seasons and had 28 tackles, including three sacks, and was also a key special teams contributor. He appeared to land a multiyear deal at this time last year with the New York Giants, but a failed physical kept that deal from happening, and Schofield re-signed a one-year deal with Seattle.
Schofield is the fourth unrestricted free agent to leave Seattle so far along with cornerback Byron Maxwell (Eagles), linebacker Malcolm Smith (Raiders) and guard James Carpenter (Jets).
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
