Tiger Weekly - Serving Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Walk-on Graff makes special impact

By Christopher Gordy

Every year, student athletes across America walk on to college sports teams without a scholarship. But few have dealt with the challenges Dan Graff has faced.

“It was a blessing that I’m athletically gifted because it was the only way I could get into college,” said Dan Graff, an LSU sophomore and football walk-on.

Graff currently dons the number 33 jersey at LSU and starts on special teams.

In the summer of 2007, Graff was given the opportunity to try out for the LSU football team and was added to the roster in August ‘07. Graff transferred to LSU from the University of New Orleans in May of ‘07 with the intention of getting a spot on the LSU football team.

“Right after high school, I went to [the University of Louisiana at Lafayette] on a track scholarship,” Graff said, an Archbishop Rummel graduate. “I couldn’t get into college because of my ACT scores, so I knew the only way I could go was with an athletic scholarship. It was the only choice I had.”

Graff said he liked running track, but his dream was always of playing football at the college level. He said he was inspired by his older brother, Mitch, who quit playing sports after high school.

“Our mom passed away when I was a freshman in high school and my brother was a senior,” Graff said. “My brother stopped playing, but he and my dad saw the talent in me and they didn’t want me to miss out on my opportunity to play.”

But after attending ULL, Graff was soon forced to quit school and move back home when Hurricane Katrina hit his hometown of Metairie, La. in August 2005.

“I had a tree fall on my house so I left college to help my dad rebuild the house,” Graff said. “I felt like I owed a lot to my family.”

Graff said that he had matured a great deal since high school and that he knew it would take a lot of time and effort to achieve his ultimate goal of playing football at LSU.

“After mom died, I had to grow up quick, cook for myself, do my own laundry,” Graff said. “It was hard because we weren’t financially secure because we still had a lot of hospital bills. Sports was the only thing I had to keep my mind off of everything.”

After moving back home, Graff enrolled at the University of New Orleans with the hope of raising his GPA in order to transfer to LSU. But after going to school at UNO for a year, Graff still did not have enough credit hours to transfer.

“I had to enroll in summer school at LSU if I even wanted to be considered for the football team,” Graff said. “I had to do a lot of work on my own, calling coaches, setting up interviews and try-outs.”

Graff said that he took his athletic training very seriously over the summer. He said he felt like he owed it to his father and brother to make himself a success.

“I was very disciplined, and I knew that I would only have one opportunity to showcase my talents for the coaches,” said Graff. “I took it seriously and never went out a lot, rarely partied.”

This past summer, Graff’s skills were put to the test as he ran an unofficial 4.32 40-yard dash, making him the second fastest player on the football team behind Trindon Holliday. But when Graff ran an official 40-yard dash weeks later at an LSU practice, he came in at 4.36, dropping him to the third fastest behind Holliday and Demetrius Byrd. But he still considers himself to be in good company with them.

Graff currently starts on special teams, on kickoffs, punts and onside returns. On the season, Graff has played in all four games, recording four total tackles, with two solo. He said he wants to continue developing his athletic talents in hopes of eventually playing in the LSU defensive secondary. And as Graff lives what he calls his “ultimate dream” of playing football at LSU, he is optimistic that things will only get better.

“Now that I’m here, it’s up to me to make it happen,” Graff said. “I feel my dreams can become one hundred percent reality no matter what they are. At LSU, I feel like I can achieve anything.”

Originally Published: October 1, 2008

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