Raymond E. Graham (born September 18, 1990) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He played college football for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

Early years

Graham attended Elizabeth High School in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

. He was a first team All-Union County, and was Union County Player of the Year after he rushed for 1,592 yards and averaged nine yards per carry, scoring 24 touchdowns to lead Union County with 144 points. He saw limited time as a junior due to a preseason collarbone injury but returned late in the year and rushed for 750 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in Elizabeth's final four games. He rushed for 1,290 yards and 13 TDs as a sophomore. He was a four-year letterman who helped Elizabeth to a 30-12 mark (.714) during his varsity career. Considered a four-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

'', he was rated as the 11th all-purpose back in the nation. He accepted a scholarship from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

over offers from

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

College career

As a freshman in 2009, he gained 349 yards, including a 53-yard run against Notre Dame. The ''USA Today'' reported that "Graham ran through half of the Notre Dame defense on a 53-yard run that led to his 2-yard score one play later." As a sophomore in 2010, Graham rushed for 922 yard and averaged 6.2 yards per carry. On October 2, 2010, he had a career-high 277 rushing yards against

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

. His total against FIU was the second-highest in Pitt football history, trailing only

Tony Dorsett Anthony Drew Dorsett Sr. (born April 7, 1954) is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. From Western Pennsylvania, Dorsett attended the ...

's 303-yard game against Notre Dame in 1975. Through seven games of the 2011 season, Graham led the nation in rushing yards with 945 yards and nine touchdowns on 162 carries. He also has 200 receiving yards on 20 receptions. However, his season came to an abrupt end after he sustained a torn right ACL against

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the second quarter on October 26, 2011. Graham returned from his injury in 2012, gaining 1,042 rushing yards on 222 carries, with 11 touchdowns, along with 340 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. Graham put up a personal best for 2012 against National Championship contenders Notre Dame. He recorded 172 yards on 24 attempts averaging 7.2 yards a carry, and 1 touchdown. His efforts helped the Panthers take the game into three overtimes only to come up a field goal shy of a victory.

Professional career

After not being selected in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall i ...

, Graham signed with the Houston Texans on April 27, 2013 as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He was released on August 26, 2013 and was subsequently signed to the practice squad by the Steelers on November 19, 2013. On December 25, 2013, the Houston Texans signed him to their 53-man roster. Graham was subsequently cut after training camp in 2014.

Personal life

Graham is the brother of

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

linebacker Khaseem Greene.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Panthers bioHouston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Ray 1990 births Living people American football running backs Elizabeth High School (New Jersey) alumni Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey Pittsburgh Panthers football players Houston Texans players