Growing up, the kid who would become the richest blocking tight end in NFL history never played football.
Not until high school, he didn’t. Daniel Graham had a father who played in the NFL, yet Tom Graham had a plan. His kids could play baseball and basketball, which Daniel and his twin brother, Joshua, did all day at the corner of Colorado and Yale for the Schlessmann YMCA League, or all night on the street in front of their Denver home. They could go fishing for bluegill, bass and crappie at one of the lakes Dad had shown them. They could worship at least a couple times a week at the Berean Bible Church.
“And then the rest of our time was picking weeds in the backyard,” Joshua said.
“When we got in trouble, we had to work in the backyard for discipline,” Daniel Graham said Wednesday, a day after he signed a five-year contract with the Broncos worth $30 million – including $15 million guaranteed. “It was almost an everyday thing for us. We picked a lot of weeds, put it that way.”
There would be no organized football, however, for the Graham twins. As a former middle linebacker for the Broncos and San Diego Chargers, Tom Graham thought football was too physical for kids who weren’t physically developed. He wanted his kids to develop agility and athleticism, and myriad interests, before he turned them loose to play football at Thomas Jefferson High School.
Daniel and Josh agree with Dad’s decision now, but then?
“Not necessarily,” said Josh, who went to North Carolina as an offensive tackle. “But there really wasn’t an argument. To be honest, I have a son now and I don’t think he’s going to play football till high school, either.”
As kids, the Graham twins could watch the Broncos on Sunday and at training camp. In fact, Daniel Graham’s greatest moment as a kid came when he was 11 or 12 years old and his father arranged for a special visit.
“I think my biggest memory for me was catching for John Elway at one of the camps,” Graham said. “I say to this day, I can catch anybody’s balls because I think he almost broke my finger.”
Think of how many dads out there would have traded in their son’s bobblehead-sized helmet for a chance to hang with The Duke. Besides, to get where he is today, Graham got all he needed from his parents, Tom and Marilyn, and extended family, but also from the YMCA.
From the ages of 7 to 13, the Graham twins had one coach, Don Hartmann. He coached them in both basketball and baseball for seven years.
In basketball, Joshua Graham, the bigger of the two, was the power forward. Daniel played center. They lost one game in seven years, Hartmann said. Daniel learned how to pick first, then to roll.
“I remember in the state championship, we were down by one and we had the ball for the final play,” Hartmann said. “I had Daniel and Joshua set a double pick for our point guard. It was like a double wall. He went right in and scored.”
And when Daniel rolled, he didn’t necessarily look to score. Hartmann devised an in-house scoring system where the assist got more points than a basket. Think that didn’t help Graham fit into the New England Patriots system in which Bill Belichick discourages individuality for the sake of team sacrifice?
Some football experts might look at Graham’s receiving stats and conclude the Broncos must have been desperate to give him all that money. He has averaged only 24 catches and 278 yards a season in his five-year career, yet he is now making more money than Antonio Gates, Todd Heap or Kellen Winslow Jr. Only Tony Gonzalez among tight ends is making slightly more, with a $31.25 million contract and a $17.75 million guarantee.
All of those tight ends, though, had at least 71 catches last season – nearly double Graham’s career high of 38.
“It validated to us that teams in the open market will pay for a guy that can block,” said Tom Mills, Graham’s agent. “You can justify his compensation by saying he got paid like tackles are getting paid. The work he did in New England more often than not really was tackle work as opposed to tight end work.”
Seattle offered Graham a $15 million guarantee, so it’s not like the Broncos were bidding against themselves.
“You might mention he still hasn’t taken out the trash in the kitchen,” Tom Graham said with a chuckle.
Receptions may lead to glory, but Daniel Graham proves there is more than one way for a tight end to get paid.
“There’s not too many tight ends who want to block,” he said. “Myself, I enjoy doing it. It’s always been a big part of my game, going back to college.”
Graham starred at Colorado and credits tight ends coach Jon Embree for selling him on the benefits of blocking. But Graham also was a fine receiver at CU, winning the John Mackey Award as a senior. One reason he signed with the Broncos is that he received assurances from coach Mike Shanahan that he would catch more passes.
“When Daniel gets to the Broncos, he’s going to run an offense almost identical to the one he had in college,” said Gary Barnett, Graham’s head coach at CU for three years. “The West Coast offense is such a tight end-oriented offense. One, you’ve got to be able to run the ball to win and I don’t know that you can run the ball without a blocking tight end. And then with the West Coast offense, especially on the third- down routes, it’s become a premium position.”
Something else Graham’s contract validated: Father knew best.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
