In his short time with the Falcons, kicker Shayne Graham has proved he is a professional in every sense.
Graham was signed Nov. 26 to fill in for kicker Matt Bryant, who suffered a right quadriceps injury. Before the Falcons traveled to Charlotte on Dec. 11, Bryant was put on season-ending injured reserve, leaving the kicking duties to Graham for the rest of the season.
The Falcons (6-7), who have three games remaining in the regular season, travel to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars (5-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“I hated to see (Bryant’s) injury be the extent that it may have been, but all I can do now is make the best of the opportunity,” Graham said. “Throughout this career, I’ve filled in for a lot of people and you take the opportunities when you get them and you try to do the best with it. Whatever’s asked of me, that’s what I’ll try to do.”
Graham, most recently with the Saints, played with 10 teams in his 14-year career before signing with the Falcons.
After going undrafted out of Virginia Tech in 2001, Graham made his professional debut with the Bills in 2001. During his time at Virginia Tech in 2000 as the all-time scoring leader in school history and Big East history, with 371 points.
An 85.8 percent field-goal kicker and 98.6 percent extra-point kicker in his career, Graham was voted a Pro Bowl and All-Pro kicker in 2005.
“It was a tough situation to come in with Matt (Bryant) being banged up. (Bryant’s) as rock solid as you can get as a kicker and as a guy,” coach Dan Quinn said. “I think it really shows what a pro (Graham) is to have the mindset to come in and want to help and be a part of it.”
If joining a new team as the regular season winds down isn’t challenging enough, Graham took his professionalism one step further during his first week on the job.
“I flew in to Atlanta late on a Wednesday night, the day after my dad passed away. I worked out early Thursday morning (with the Falcons). They signed me, and I had practice with the team. After the workout, I got on a plane and flew back to where my dad’s funeral was. The very next day, flew back here and played a game (against the Vikings),” Graham said. “Being away from everyone right when that happened, it was tough. But I knew what I signed up for when I tried to get into the NFL a long time ago.”
Graham made five of five field-goal attempts while filling in for Bryant in the Falcons’ 20-10 loss to the Vikings on Nov. 29 and their 23-19 loss to the Buccaneers on Dec. 6. He did not attempt any field goals in the team’s 38-0 loss to the Panthers (13-0).
With one-third of the Falcons’ points coming from field goals (30) during the team’s six-game losing streak, Graham’s strong and accurate leg is crucial.
“He nailed a 55-yard field goal in practice (Wednesday). Those are the things that you start building that trust in practice because you start seeing him doing it,” Quinn said.
Special-teams coordinator Keith Armstrong watched the chemistry of Graham with punter Matt Bosher and long snapper Josh Harris in Graham’s few weeks of practice.
“The first week, we kind of had to piece it together, but they’ve had some time to work together and (Graham’s) got a really good feel on timing, how Josh will snap, when he’s going to snap, when he can begin his approach to the ball,” Armstrong said. “He’s done a nice job. Gets the ball up fairly quick, and he’s been pretty solid with it.”
Despite the challenge of joining a new team as the regular season winds down, Graham didn’t flinch when entering a new locker room.
“Sometimes when you come in somewhere and you have to fit into an organization, you kind of feel like you’re in a strange place,” Graham said. “When I got here, everyone made me feel really comfortable, and it felt like a family.”
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