Tight end Garrett Graham was a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection at Wisconsin.
Tight end Garrett Graham was drafted by the Texans in the fourth round (118th overall) out of Wisconsin a few weeks ago.
A two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, Graham (6-3, 250) finished his Wisconsin career with 121 catches, 1,492 yards and 16 touchdowns.
With organized team activities on the horizon, we caught up with Graham for a "10 Questions" interview about what he's been doing since the draft, his thoughts on the Texans' offense and more.
1. What have you been doing to stay in shape since the draft?
"I've been in Wisconsin working out with the guys that I worked out with leading up to my pro day. I'm just trying to stay in shape back up at school and getting ready for OTAs, just kind of laying low and relaxing and enjoying my last couple of weeks here in Madison."
2. What's a typical workout session like for you each day?
"The lifts change every day, but I go in and try and do football-related lifts. And then afterwards, we'll do some conditioning or I'll run routes with the quarterbacks and receivers that are here right now and do conditioning afterwards. I'm really just trying to stay in shape for that Houston heat that I'm about to come to."
3. How much have you been in contact with the team or with any of the coaches since you got drafted?
"I've been in contact with Coach (Brian) Pariani quite a bit. I just actually talked to him (Tuesday). He was talking about the schedule that's coming up and what to expect and stuff like that, so it was nice hearing from him."
4. How fired up are you getting? Has it sunk in that in less than a week, you'll be at your first NFL practice?"I don't really think it will until I actually get down there. It's kind of weird because Houston doesn't have the rookie mini-camps before everything starts off, so everybody that I know has kind of been down to their facilities already. But I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to getting out there and playing some football finally."
5. How much have you been reading up on the Texans over the past few weeks?
"I've been on the website a lot trying to familiarize myself with the players and coaches and front office. I've been looking on at a few videos, some highlights clips and some things of that nature. I'm trying to familiarize myself as much as I can."
6. There are a lot of tight ends on the Texans' roster, including a few veteran guys coming off of injuries. How do you feel about the competition coming up?"You know, I'm sure they're all great players. I'm just going to come in and do what they ask of me and do my best and go from there. I'm excited to come down and play some football on a great team."
7. Have you talked to Owen Daniels, your fellow Wisconsin Badger, since the draft?"Yeah, he actually called me a couple of hours after I got drafted and just kind of congratulated me and welcomed me to the Texans, and we kind of caught up a little bit. He's been doing absolutely great for the Texans, so it's been great to see. He was a nice guy and a good senior leader when I was a freshman."
8. How much do you think it'll help you make the transition to the NFL to have him in Houston?"It'll definitely help a lot. While I was a Wisconsin, we watched games of Owen and what he did and had certain cut-ups of him and other guys that we've had in the past. I think it'll definitely help to continue to see what he's done there and try and fit my way in."
9. The offense that Gary Kubiak runs utilizes the tight end a lot – it has since he had Shannon Sharpe back in Denver. How excited are you about that?
"It's great. I remember back when Owen got drafted, people were telling me it's a great system for him and he's going to do well there. So when I heard my name called by Houston, I saw the production he had and how well he had done, it was great. I can't really ask for a better offense to go to, especially at the tight end position, so I'm just looking forward to trying to learn it and get it all down and go from there."
10. One last thing: What's something about you off the field that not many people might know?
"I love to golf, but I'm not really good at it."
Follow Nick Scurfield on Twitter at ****twitter.com/NickScurfield*** or find him on the "I'm A Texan Club" at _***imatexan.com/profiles/NickScurf/***_.*
