Chargers Dim Hopes of Former Beverly Hills Star
At Beverly Hills High School and later at Princeton, Derek Graham was always a go-for-broke wide receiver. If a game was on the line, chances were that Graham would break into the clear, catch a long pass, score and help his team win one.
But last week Graham apparently went bust in his attempt to continue his playing career in the National Football League. He was cut by the San Diego Chargers.
A three-sport star at Beverly Hills and a football record-setter at Princeton, he had found himself in the rear of the pack while trying out as a free agent with the Chargers, a team with some of the best wide receivers in pro football.
Graham, also a defensive back, top hurdler and basketball guard in high school, had always been one of the best.
As a high school senior pass catcher, his 68 receptions for 1,224 yards (an 18-yard average) and 10 touchdowns was the best mark on the Westside and the third best in the CIF-Southern Section. He was a Times All-Westside selection in 1979.
He got better at Princeton. He was named All-Ivy League three times, All-East Coast in 1983 and 1984 and a second-team All-American. He accumulated those honors despite sitting out a year after he separated a shoulder in pre-season camp in 1982. He spent that year working for an investment banking firm in San Francisco.
But in his three years as a varsity starter, he set a flock of records at Princeton. He holds school marks for most yards gained in a game, with 278 against Yale in 1981, career receiving yards with 2,818, receiving yards in a season with 1,362 in 1983, career touchdowns with 19 and longest gain for a touchdown, 95 yards.
His Ivy League records include 15 receptions in a game, season receiving yardage (885 yards on 52 receptions in 1983) and career receiving yards (2,057 yards on 122 receptions, a 16.9-yard average).
But that was the Ivy League, not the NFL, and Graham knew he was in much faster company with the Chargers.
San Diego quarterback Dan Fouts has a host of talented wide receivers to throw to. They include wily old (38) pro Charlie Joyner; Wes Chandler (twice All-NFL); Bobby Duckworth, who led the league last year with an average of 28.6 yards a catch; Jesse Bendross, a top rookie from Alabama, and Trumaine Johnson, who was probably the best receiver in the United States Football League when he played for the Chicago Blitz (which later became the Arizona Wranglers).
Because the NFL trimmed the number of players a team is allowed to retain from 49 to 45, San Diego this year is also using running back Lionel (Little Train) James as a wide receiver. And the Chargers have some fine receivers among the newcomers, including Joe Nobles of the Hawaii Rainbows, Joe Kelly of Vanderbilt and Tim Ware of USC.
Of Graham’s competition with the Chargers, most are bigger and some are faster or more experienced than he--or all three. He is 5-11, 175. In a phone interview last week from the Chargers’ training camp, he said he had run 40 yards in 4.66 seconds on a grass surface and in 4.5 seconds on artificial turf--seemingly quick enough for most wide receivers.
But 40-yard times are not necessarily definitive, he said, adding that Chandler, for instance, is just beginning to get into high gear when he hits the 25-yard mark.
Graham was passed over in the NFL draft, but he said that the Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles contacted him before the draft and that both clubs told him they would give him tryouts if he wasn’t selected. He settled on the Chargers, he said, because “I’ve had enough cold weather.
Before he was let go, he said, “I am definitely an incredible long shot here, but I’m trying to do my best and keep a positive attitude. That’s difficult to do at times, but I can’t help but learn from (the San Diego veterans).
“Maybe I can learn enough from these guys that it might make a difference someplace. I anticipate that it will be very difficult to latch on somewhere else, but I will try. Now is just the beginning of an incredible overflow of labor (with the uncertain status of the USFL).”
Last week Al Saunders, who coaches San Diego’s receivers, spoke well of Graham, but he noted that the competition is “quite keen.” He said that Graham bruised his ribs in practice early in camp and missed three or four practices but that he was “pleased with his attitude and work habits. He does not have great speed or size, and it takes a lot of repetition (of running pass routes) to make it.”
Graham said that if he doesn’t catch on with another NFL team, he may try to get his old job back with the San Francisco investment firm, work for a year and apply for admission to law school. A history major at Princeton, Graham studied with Eric Goldman, his senior thesis adviser and author of “The Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson” and other books.
Graham wrote his thesis about another long shot--Harry Truman, and the underdog 1948 presidential campaign in which he upset Thomas Dewey. But that was not a good omen for him. He was unable to pull a Truman and make the Chargers’ squad.
However, he said he is glad he has had the experience. “It’s been interesting, if not exactly fun. I’m used to being a basic cog in the offense, but here there are so many guys. The tight ends see a lot of action, but the wide receivers less so.
“Still, I (got) to see things firsthand, to find out what it’s like in the NFL. Sometimes I (got) to see guys I used to think were gods dropping the ball, and the difference of ability (between the pros and college players) isn’t as significant as I thought.”
He said he has no regrets. “It’s been a great experience--and a great summer job.”