FLOWERY BRANCH — As a student majoring in corporate communications at the University of Texas, Ta’Quon Graham came to Atlanta to help prepare himself for life after football.
He took a tour of the Chick-fil-A headquarters and did an internship with Turner Sports. Coincidentally, he was drafted by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft and is playing well enough that he can put the post-football career plans off for a while.
Graham has stepped forward to help stabilize the defensive line and give Pro Bowl defensive end Grady Jarrett some help up front as the Falcons (3-4) are set to face the Panthers (2-5) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I mostly just shadowed some people that did the media marketing side of it,” Graham told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of his Turner Sports internship. “Like the NBA playoffs. The commercial slots for that. I shadowed a person that did a deal with Jack Daniel’s. How they kind of structured it.”
That was how Graham spent his summer before his junior year at Texas.
He didn’t get to meet NBA announcers Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson from the award-winning “Inside the NBA” show.
“I got to see the studio where they operate,” Graham said. “I just thought it was crazy. I didn’t even think they did it in Atlanta. I saw the whole little setup. It was really crazy. Even though given the whole campus over there, it’s pretty crazy, too.”
Graham went back to Texas and finished his career, which included 48 games and 24 starts from 2017-20. He was the 148th player picked and was headed back to Atlanta.
“Yeah, it was like a full-circle moment,” Graham said. “I kind (of) got in the car, and we started driving around the city. I recognized a few things. It was a good feeling to be back, and to know that when I was into doing the internship and stuff, I kind of was doing an internship to see what I wanted to do after football.
“Then a couple of years later, I’m still doing what I want to do, playing football.”
The Falcons were hoping that Graham or Marlon Davidson (who was drafted a year earlier) would step forward and take control of the defensive end/tackle position opposite Jarrett. The Falcons needed someone to cause a ruckus and beat one-on-one blocks, as teams elected to double-team or slide their blocking plans to Jarrett. Graham prevailed as Davidson, who has a balky left knee, was released Tuesday.
“I grew up in a little city called Temple, Texas, about 45 minutes north of Austin,” Graham said of his Texas upbringing. He chose to play for the Longhorns to be near family.
“I wanted my mom to be able to watch my games,” he said. “I wanted my family to be close enough so that they could come to the games whenever they wanted, at least the home games. I didn’t want to move too far from the area. We weren’t in a position where she could get a flight and fly anywhere.”
Temple is where Graham developed his love for dogs, and he wants to help animal shelters in metro Atlanta.
“Pretty recently my mom adopted a couple of dogs from the animal shelter,” Graham said. “Two pit bulls. I grew up with a lot of pit bulls as well and a Rottweiler.”
He plans to volunteer at animal shelters in the area and make monetary donations.
After his grandmother died of ovarian cancer, Graham helped to raise money for the American Cancer Society through the Relay for Life program.
“We started doing a Relay for Life at least every single year,” Graham said. “My mom, my brother, all of my aunts and my grandpa.”
Graham, 6-foot-4 and 307 pounds, has started five of seven games this season and has played 303 defensive snaps (64%). He has 18 tackles and seven quarterback hits.
On his off-days on Tuesdays, Graham usually studies for the coming opponent.
“Honestly, just learning from the people around me,” Graham said. “Coming in as a rookie and seeing Grady do it. Also, I just want to be prepared. I feel like if you’re prepared, you can put the best product on the field.”
Graham has found a mentor in Jarrett. He’s been impressed with Jarrett’s community service and devotion to his family.
Before games, you can see Graham and Jarrett warming up together.
“I used to just go into games cold,” Graham said. “In college, big guys didn’t have to go out and warm up or anything like that. But I was going out there, and I was super cold.”
Graham asked Jarrett about his pregame routine.
“Every time, he says, ‘Hey, be ready to go in 15 minutes,’” Graham said. “We go out there (and) warm up together every single time. It became kind of a routine slash ritual thing for us to go out there and warm up together. Get ready for the game. It’s something I’m glad that we started doing together.”
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The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
