DeMingo Graham (born September 10, 1973) 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 ...
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
. He played college football at
Hofstra
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...
. Professionally, he played for four seasons in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), first for the
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
from 1998 to 2001. In 2002, Graham was on the inaugural roster of the newly formed
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
.
Early life and college career
Born and raised in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Central High School in Newark, where he earned all-state honors in football and also participated in track and wrestling. At
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...
, Graham was a four year starter at
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
for the
Hofstra Pride football
The Hofstra Pride football (formerly the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen) program was the intercollegiate American football team for Hofstra University, located on Long Island in Hempstead, New York. Hofstra competed in the NCAA Division I Football Cham ...
team from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, Graham was part of an offensive line that allowed 435.9 yards per game, and the team finished 9–3 with an appearance in the Division I-AA playoffs.
Pro football career
Graham began his professional football career as an undrafted free agent with the
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
in 1998. In his rookie year, Graham was on the active roster throughout the season but did not play in any games.
In
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, Graham played in 16 games with 10 starts at right guard on a team that finished 8–8. Graham returned as right guard in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, playing 14 games with one start and seeing action on the field goal protection unit as well. The Chargers fell to 1–15 in 2000.
For the first time in his career, Graham was a full time starter in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, starting all 16 games at right guard for the Chargers. The offensive line helped rookie running back
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...
rush for 1,236 yards, a record for a Chargers rookie.
On April 9, 2002, Graham signed as a free agent with the expansion
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
. Moving to left guard, Graham played in 14 games with 11 starts on a 4–12 team.