Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Brandon Graham

Tag: Tom Brady

21Dec 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Brandon Graham

“Great! Now that I’m hurt, I won’t have to wear green and white”
– Brandon Graham

After recording only one tackle last Sunday, Brandon Graham is being selected as the Former Michigan Athlete of the Week for mostly symbolic reasons. Graham started six of the 13 games in which he played last season, recording 13 tackles, one sack and two forced fumbles. That was until week 14 against the Cowboys when Graham suffered a torn ACL and subsequently underwent microfracture surgery, which kept him on the Injured Reserve until late October of this year. Consistent with an injury of that severity, Graham’s transition back to playing at a high level has not been seamless. And Philadelphia fans don’t like that.

As the 13th overall selection in the 2010 draft, Graham admits that he has not yet lived up to expectations. But Eagles fans are not a patient bunch and are directing some heat towards Graham, “chasing him off of Twitter” and bemoaning that his draft spot wasn’t used to instead select Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who, to his credit, has performed very well. “That’s why it’s tough for me, because I gotta see stuff like that,” said Graham, “and I know I’m like, I could be that.’ I know what I can do. Just to see Pierre-Paul is balling, doing his thing, it’s tough on me…I don’t even worry about it because I’ve got three years and I’ve got a chance to prove myself and they know what I can do.” Graham continues to work hard and tweet. His Eagles hold a 6-8 record yet still have an outside chance of making the playoffs by winning the unimpressive NFC East.

Honorable Mention: Tom Brady threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions as the Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos and Tim “he just wins games” Tebow by a score of 41-23. Brady added a touchdown on the ground which was followed by an emphatic spike as New England improved to an 11-3 record. Brady has thrown for 4,593 yards this season and is on pace to break Dan Marion’s single-season passing record of 5,084 yards. That’s if Drew Brees, who’s thrown for 4,780 yards, doesn’t beat him to it. But Brees’ season total through the air may be adversely impacted by Coach Sean Payton, who unlike Belichick, has shown a tendency to rest his star players on the final week of the season if his team’s playoff seeding has already been determined. Go Brady.

Miscellaneous: Jake Long sat out against the Bills, which broke his 60 game start streak. Morgan Trent now plays for Jacksonville and saw action last week. Jay Feely hit a game winning field goal on Sunday against the Browns.

14Dec 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

“STOP HITTING ON GISELE!” – Tom Brady
Brady threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns with one interception as his Patriots defeated the Redskins, 34-27, on Sunday. After throwing the interception, Brady joined in a profanity-filled shouting match with offensive coordinator Bill O’ Brien (watch it here). Maybe the two were merely venting their frustrations with New England’s awful defense because the passing game appears to be the least of their worries. Brady has thrown for 4,273 yards through 13 games and is on pace to break Dan Marino’s 1984 single-season passing record of 5,084 yards if Drew Brees doesn’t beat him to it. This Sunday, Brady will go head-to-head with quarterback media darling Tim “he just wins games” Tebow.
Honorable Mention: Mario Manningham caught a 47-yard touchdown pass in the Giants 37-34 win over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, but the reception was due to a blown coverage, and he later dropped what would have been the game-winning touchdown pass. So Honorable Mention goes to Charles Woodson this week, who recorded six tackles, two pass defenses and an interception, which puts him in a tie with Eric Weddle and Kyle Arrington for most INTs this season (7). His Super Bowl defending Packers remain undefeated (13-0) after a 46-13 rout of Woodson’s former team, the Oakland Raiders.
Miscellaneous: Jake Long left the Miami-Philadelphia game with a lower back injury in the first quarter. The Dolphins gave up a franchise-tying nine sacks in his absence, and Coach Tony Sparano was fired after the game. Long’s status for next week against the Bills is uncertain, which may end his 60 game start streak.
Martell Webb signed with the Tampa Bay practice squad late last week.
8Dec 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Jay Feely

Kicker Jay Feely sent both of his field goal attempts through the uprights on Sunday, converting from 48 and 23 yards out, which allowed his Arizona Cardinals to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in overtime by a score of 19-13. Holding a record of 5-7, it marks the first time this year that the Cardinals – Feely’s seventh NFL team – have defeated a squad with a winning record. After struggling early in the season, Feely has since converted on his last five field goal attempts and is now 11-for-16 on the year. Interestingly, this is the second consecutive match-up between Arizona and Dallas that Feely has decided the game: last year, he sent a 48-yarder through the uprights to give the Cardinals the lead with only 5 seconds remaining on Christmas day.
Honorable Mention: Tom Brady put on another impressive statistical performance, throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns with zero picks in a 31-24 win over the 0-12 Colts on Sunday. However, the game was not nearly as close as the final score indicates, so despite nice stats, it’s hard to say that Brady was the difference-maker, thus relegating him to Honorable Mention this week behind Feely.
30Nov 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

“Stop asking me about my arm.” – Tom Brady
After a nine week hiatus, Tom Brady “wins” this fine award for the second consecutive week. He went 24-of-34 for 361 yards with three touchdowns and zero picks on Sunday in the Patriots 38-20 downing of the Eagles. Through eleven games, Brady has thrown for a whopping 3,627 yards and 28 touchdowns with a 65.8 completion percentage. Tom Martinez, who works with Brady in the off-season, said that Brady has an arm injury that is “affecting his throws,” and several major media outlets purport that “Brady doesn’t look quite right.” Brady denies the injury, and true or not – I think these people are looking too hard. Philadelphia WR and former Wolverine Jason Avant caught eight passes for 110 yards and a touchdown in the game.
Honorable Mention: Ryan Mundy – who played at and graduated from Michigan and then played a year under Rich Rodruiguez at West Virginia – now backs up All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu. Against the Chiefs this week, he chalked up eleven tackles and an interception as his Steelers won a 13-9 battle to improve their record to 8-3.
23Nov 2011
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

It’s been nine weeks since Tom Brady was last named the Former Michigan Athlete of the Week. That seems like a long time for a QB on a 7-3 team who is averaging a ridiculous 327 passing yards per game with a season rating of 102.5. This week, Brady had little competition for our recognition as he passed for 234 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions in the Patriots 34-3 blowout over the Chiefs. Kansas City made things difficult for Brady early in the game, sacking him twice and forcing a fumble, but two touchdown passes to TE Rob Gronkowski opened things up around halftime. Brady’s Patriots now hold a two game lead in the AFC East over the Jets and Bills.
Honorable Mention: Stephen Schilling made his first career NFL start on Sunday in a 31-20 loss to the Bears. He got the starting nod due to four or five key injuries along the San Diego offensive line, but I’m sure Schilling wasn’t complaining. After being drafted 201st overall in the 2011 draft, Schilling was waived by the Chargers early in the season before resigning to the practice squad several days later. The Chargers only gained 54 yards on the ground against the Bears, but Schilling and the O-line didn’t give up a sack, either. His current and former teammate, second-round draft pick Jonas Mouton, has been on Injured Reserve since the third week of the season.