|
While Aaron Graham and his fellow redshirted Nebraska football players were in Miami for the Orange Bowl following the 1991 season, the group got together and set some goals.
"We decided we wanted to be part of five Big Eight championships and two national championships," Graham said in an interview in 1995. "It wasn't a joke. We talked about it for a long time that day.
"We knew we had the talent and the class and the work ethic to do it."
Graham, who would become an All-America center for the Huskers, saw that goal achieved - and almost exceeded - during his collegiate career. Today, he's honored as one of the greatest Nebraska football players of the century, finishing No. 48 in voting by World-Herald readers.
Had it not been for the 18-16 loss to Florida State in the Orange Bowl after the '93 season, Graham would have been the starting center on three national championship teams.
As it was, Graham was the starter on the 1994 team that persevered an injury-riddled season to win Tom Osborne's first national title as a head coach, and the following year, when the Huskers repeated as champions, Graham anchored the offensive line on what arguably was the greatest team in college football history.
Graham and his classmates posted a 26-0 record at Memorial Stadium, won four straight outright Big Eight championships (five, when you count their involvement as redshirts) and amassed an overall record of 45-4.
The Huskers were never better at executing power football than they were when Graham was their center. He never gave up a sack in his career. As a senior, he and his partners on the offensive line helped the Huskers to a 399.8-yard rushing average, and Graham was flagged for just one penalty.
In four years as the team's deep snapper, Graham never misfired.
As Graham neared the end of his career at NU, Line Coach Milt Tenopir called him the best center he had coached.
"Aaron meant a lot to my success," said former quarterback Tommie Frazier, Graham's classmate and an All-American himself. "Having the same center for three years, you pretty much knew what he was going to do and what he thought. He made my job easier."
Graham also starred in the classroom. He was an Academic All-American in 1995 and a three-time Big Eight all-academic honoree. In 1995, he was named an NCAA Today's Top Eight Award winner, the highest academic honor in collegiate athletics.
The Arizona Cardinals made Graham their fourth-round pick in the 1996 National Football League draft. Now in his fourth season, he is well-established as the Cardinals center.
Aaron Graham
 Hometown: Denton, Texas
At NU: Center, 1992-95
Career Highlights: First-team All-American in 1995. . . . Served as team captain on '95 national championship team. . . . Did not give up a sack in his career. . . . NCAA Today's Top Eight Award winner, the highest honor bestowed on student-athletes.
Update: A fourth-year NFL veteran, Graham has been the regular starting center for the Arizona Cardinals for most of the past three years, including all nine games this season.
|
