Shayne Graham

Infobox NFLactive


currentteam=Cincinnati Bengals
currentnumber=17
currentpositionplain=Kicker
birthdate=birth date and age|1977|12|9
birthplace=Radford, Virginia
heightft=6
heightin=0
weight=205
debutyear=2001
debutteam=Buffalo Bills
college=Virginia Tech
undraftedyear=2001
highlights=
* Pro Bowl selection (2005)
* All-Pro selection (2005)Bengals franchise records
* Most field goals in a season (31)
* Most field goals in a game (7)
* Highest field goal percentage in a season (91.2)
* Highest field goal percentage, career
* Most points in a season (131)
pastteams=
* Buffalo Bills (2001)
* Carolina Panthers (2002)
* Cincinnati Bengals (2003-present)
statweek=5
statseason=2008
statlabel1=Field Goals Made
statvalue1=161
statlabel2=Field Goals Attempted
statvalue2=188
statlabel3=Field Goals %
statvalue3=85.6
nfl=GRA217171

Michael Shayne Graham (born December 9, 1977 in Radford, Virginia) is an American football placekicker who currently plays for the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League.

Career

Graham attended Pulaski County High School and was an avid soccer player as a kid. Graham has an older sister named Michelle.

He played college football at Virginia Tech and signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints in 2000, but was waived before the start of the regular season.

He spent the second half of the 2001 season with the Buffalo Bills, replacing erratic rookie Jake Arians after Arians had missed an extra point. The Bills released Graham at the end of the season, and Graham signed with the Carolina Panthers for the 2002 season, and in 2003, began his current stint with the Bengals. Ever since joining the Bengals, Graham has had an extremely successful career. In his first year with Cincinnati in 2003, Graham set a franchise record by making 88% (22 of 25) of his field goals. In the following season, Graham narrowly missed equalling his previous mark, finishing the year 27 of 31 (87.1%). In 2005, Graham made 28 of 32 field goals (87.5%), scored a franchise record 131 points, was selected to be the kicker for the AFC Pro Bowl squad, and helped the Bengals record their first winning season since 1990. Graham was the first kicker in franchise history ever to be selected to play in a pro bowl.

In 2007, Graham missed his first field goal attempt of the season (a 53-yard attempt). But after that, he set set a Bengals record by kicking 21 consecutive field goals without a miss over the season's first 10 games. This included a game against the Baltimore Ravens where he set a franchise record by kicking 7 field goals (the second highest total in NFL history). His streak came to an end when he unexpectedly missed a 26-yard attempt in game 11. By the end of the season, Graham set new franchise records for field goals in a season (31) and field goal percentage (91.2)

His high accuracy and reliability has garnered him the nickname, "Golden" Graham or "Sugar Foot".

Charity Work

Graham has joined two other Bengals kickers (Doug Pelfrey and Jim Breech) as Executive Board Members of Kicks For Kids. Kicks For Kids is a children's charity that was founded by former kicker Doug Pelfrey in 1995 and strives to provide opportunities to children at risk in Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana.

Graham has also worked to gain sponsorship for a program that donated $200 for each of his field goals in 2004 to Cincinnati's FreeStore/FoodBank, and he extended that program to also cover field goals made by the Cincinnati Marshals indoor team. He built a partnership with the Westin Cincinnati to give deserving children a chance to eat with him at the hotel's gourmet restaurant. He donated proceeds from a local kicking clinic to the YMCA. He also has worked with the Cincinnati Veterans Administration Hospital, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the IHOP Read Across America.

External links

* [http://www.bengals.com/team/player.asp?player_id=28 Shayne Graham's page at "Bengals.com"]
* [http://www.kicksforkids.org/cincinnati/ Kicks for Kids]