Chris De'monte Graham (born September 30, 1984) is a former

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 with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He was most recently a member of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

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 ...

in 2008. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Graham has also been a member of the

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 Ford ...

. Graham was a member of the

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The team belonged to the East Division of the American Conference (AC) in the Arena Football League (AFL). Founded in 2011, the Power ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. Graham also played in the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''Ameri ...

in 2010.

Early life

Graham played most of his high school football at Warren Central High School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. He was an all-state linebacker in Indiana and led his team to a state championship while setting a record for number of tackles in a season (180). In his senior year, he also recorded 19 tackles for loss (TFL), four sacks, one interception, and one defensive touchdown. He was a four-star recruit and had offers from Tennessee, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, and Kentucky.

College career

Graham held offers from numerous top D1 programs but ultimately chose to play his college ball at the University of Michigan under

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolverines compiled a record ...

. He played alongside players such as David Harris,

Lamarr Woodley LaMarr Dewayne Woodley (born November 3, 1984) is a former American football outside linebacker. He played college football at Michigan, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seco ...

Leon Hall Leon Lastarza Hall (born December 9, 1984) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football for the University of Michigan, and earned consensus All-American honors. Hall was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first rou ...

Jake Long Jake Edward Long (born May 9, 1985) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Michigan, where he was a two-time consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins first overall in the 2008 NFL Dr ...

Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan. While there, Henne became only the second true freshman starti ...

, and

Braylon Edwards Braylon Jamel Edwards (born February 21, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Michigan, earned unanimous All-American honors, and was recognize ...

. He played in games as a true freshman, and got his first start as a sophomore against Northern Illinois where he recorded 10 tackles including 2 TFLs. Graham was a four-year letterman and appeared in 46 career games and made 20 starts at linebacker. He contributed 163 stops, 11 tackles for loss, one sack, two fumble recovery and six pass breakups during career. In his senior year, he won the 2007

Roger Zatkoff Roger Zatkoff (March 25, 1931 – November 4, 2021) was an American professional football player and businessman. A native of Hamtramck, Michigan, Zatkoff played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 1950 to 1952 and was selected ...

Award as Michigan's top linebacker. He was also received All-Big Ten Honorable Mention voted on by the Big Ten Media.

Professional career

Graham was projected to be drafted in the late rounds of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

, however he went undrafted. He was then signed by the

, but was eventually released. After trying out for four teams Graham was signed by the

. He was first signed to the practice squad and then made roster for the entire offseason but released before preseason. After being released from Lions middle linebacker Graham decided to return to the University of Michigan to finish his degree in general studies. In 2010 Graham was signed and played for the

Braunschweig Lions The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

of the

. Graham signed with the

of the

and played with them during the 2011 season. Graham left the Power and signed with the

of the

and was placed on the Developmental Squad following training camp. Graham was placed on the active roster periodically during the 2011 CFL season, starting three games at middle linebacker. He was projected as the starting middle linebacker for the 2012 season, but was released on June 17, 2012, after the Roughriders chose to use a non-import player at that position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Chris 1984 births Living people American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Detroit Lions players Michigan Wolverines football players New Orleans Saints players Pittsburgh Power players Saskatchewan Roughriders players German Football League players Players of Canadian football from Indianapolis Players of American football from Indianapolis American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate players of American football