Ben Graham --some impressions so far

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From Down Under, a Big Boomer Baffles the Jets

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By KAREN CROUSE

Published: August 1, 2005

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., July 31 - Ben Graham is the one with no previous experience playing American football, so why are the players on the receiving end of his punts the ones looking like beginners?

Several players in the Jets training camp are having a hard time cleanly handling the punts of Graham, a former Australian Football League star from Geelong. He cuts across the ball when he kicks it, giving the ball a devious end-over-end spin.

Justin Miller, a rookie from Clemson, took his shot at fielding Graham's punts Sunday during the morning practice and walked off the field at Hofstra University shaking his head.

"When I first got out here, I was like, where is he kicking the ball to?" Miller said. "It's kind of difficult to read his punts."

Wide receiver Justin McCareins has returned 51 punts in the N.F.L., none of which, he said, were as difficult to catch as one of Graham's offerings.

"He hooks them," McCareins said. "When it's spinning like that, it's going to generate movement. It takes a little extra focus to catch them as opposed to a regular spiral."

Mike Westhoff, the special teams coach, said that the potential downside of kicking the ball the way Graham did was that he could end up sacrificing distance. But Graham's left leg is so strong that he can kick a football 70 yards, and any distance he loses may be compensated for in the disquiet he will cause opponents.

Several Jets are already imagining the scene in film rooms of opposing teams should Graham beat out Micah Knorr for the punting job.

"Even before he kicks it, people will be talking about him," McCareins said. "I think it will be advantageous to us, because it will be in guys' heads. You're going to be thinking about catching the ball as opposed to the return and making people miss."

Coach Herman Edwards, when asked about Graham, said with a laugh, "He's a folk hero right now."

I go on record as hoping that Knorr and his short directional punts is not on this team and hoping Graham can make this transistion work from Aussie FB