Jimmy Graham held a conference call with Seattle media today. Here's what he said.
The newest Seahawk, Jimmy Graham, talked to Seattle media via a conference call this afternoon.
You can listen to it here. And below are the transcribed quotes:
Were you surprised the Saints traded you? “It was definitely shocking. I had worked out in the morning, and I’m actually a pilot, so I took the plane to get some food, so I was actually on a beach down in Florida when I got the call from Sean Payton letting me know that I had just been traded. I was just working out and kind of doing my offseason thing, and next thing I know I’m a Seahawk.”
On if he had any thoughts that the Saints might be interested in trading him: “No, not at all really. I would say about a month ago, maybe not even a month ago, I was in the city and saw Mickey (Loomis) and was talking about next season with Mickey. Even when the season ended, just talking with the coaches, talking about what we’re going to do, what we’re going to work on, so it was definitely out of left field.”
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On thoughts on coming to Seattle: “Immediately once Sean (Payton) said I had been traded, I was going through the list of everyone who had a bunch of cap space, thinking either Jacksonville or Oakland or somewhere, but when he told me Seattle, it definitely put a grin on my face. I’ve had some battles clearly against their defense the last couple of years. We’ve struggled against them as a team as a whole. It’s probably the one game as player you always look forward to because they’re always so good and it’s usually a primetime game. So for me it was a moment of shock, but once that shock cleared, I realized that I was going to the best team in football.”
On if he has talked to Michael Bennett and Bruce Irvin and his thoughts on the verbal jousting before the 2014 divisional playoff game in Seattle: “I’m excited, you know? Whenever we’re all getting ready for a playoff game, you know how serious those games are and you try to motivate your guys. There’s a lot of emotion that goes into those games, and when I play, it’s all about winning and it’s all about doing whatever it takes to fire guys up and to get that emotion running. For me, that’s just a part of the game. We play a contact sport and it’s aggressive, and you have to be aggressive in everything you do. So for me, I’m excited to sit down with the guys—some of the guys have reached out to me, called me on the phone—but I’m excited to really get to know these guys and become one of their brothers and work towards winning a championship.”
On what kind of plane he was flying the other day: “I was flying a bonanza, a little six seater.”
On what he thinks he can add to the Seattle offense: “I’ve been watching some film and it seems like a lot of teams play a lot of cover zero against them because of Marshawn Lynch and that read option is so good. Marshawn, you have to put guys in the box and you have to bring safeties down. When you’re playing cover zero there are a lot of one-on-ones, there are a lot of opportunities down the field, there are a lot of opportunities in that middle section where you have guys in these one-on-one matchups and I think eventually teams wont’ be able to do that. You won’t be able to go cover zero to stop the run and I think I can help open that up. And then in the red zone, that’s something I’ve always been good at. I’m 6-7, 26-0 pounds and most of those are like a rebound for me. I’m looking to really fit in wherever they need me. I’m a team player and I’m all about winning. Wherever they want me and whatever they want me to do I’m 100 percent on board and that’s with anything.”
On if he has a problem with the fact that Seattle throws the ball a lot less: “No. Out there in New Orleans we’ve really been flinging the rock. Like I said a minute ago for me it’s all about winning. It’s all about having an opportunity and a chance at winning a championship and that’s all I care about. If a team needs me to catch 100 football or a team needs me to catch 30 or a team needs me to catch 15 touchdowns or 5 touchdowns I’m going to do it. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. I’m not complaining at all about any of that. I just want to be part of this team and I want to be there in big moment for this team and this franchise to help us win games.”
On what kinds of ways he thinks Seattle can use him: “I know Seattle does have some pretty good tight ends as it is. We haven’t really had any time to dive into it. It’s been a crazy 48 hours for me. 48 hours ago I was answering the phone from Sean. Yesterday I spent the day in Seattle meeting with the doctors and getting cleared on my medical so I stopped by and was able to briefly talk ans see the beautiful facility and see my new city which was very encouraging. Right now I haven’t had any time to dive into it.”
On if he has had a chance to talk yet with Russell Wilson: “The first guy to reach out to me was Russell. He called me right away, shot me a text and we briefly spoke and talked about his goals and his team’s goals and what has been going on and catching up and sharing some things. What I shared with him was exactly the chemistry thing. I said I’m going to go wherever I need to go and I’m going to be wherever I need to be to be with you and to work on this chemistry because that is the most important thing is chemistry and the only way to work on that is time. You’ve got to run those routes and you’ve got to catch and throw. I’m really looking forward to getting with him and learning more about him as a player as a thrower, as a passer. I’m excited for it
“As far as me and Drew, The way me and Drew really sped that up especially early in my career, my second year I ended up having like 99 catches, was having a full practice or an OTA and then after a practice we would get even more reps in. As long as he wants to throw to me I’m going to keep catching. I know we’re probably going to spend a lot of time after practice just working routes. What he likes, what he doesn’t like and what he prefers because Russell is a fantastic quarterback. I’ve been able to watch some film on him and obviously I’ve played against him a lot these last couple of years. I’m excited about working with him and about getting this chemistry together.”
On how Russell Wilson has patterned his game after Drew Brees and if that will help Graham and Wilson build chemistry: “Yeah, definitely they do have similar games except Russell really will run with the ball. Drew will really, really stand in the pocket no matter what. He rarely, rarely runs it. So I was watching a lot of film where Russell will ends up kind of breaking out of the pocket and really that’s when he’s scary and when coverages are broken down and you have to respect him as a runner because he’s so good at it and he’s able to get these shots down the field and these huge, game-changing plays, so I’m really looking forward to really seeing that for the first time because Drew really is a pocket passer. And Wilson, he can be a pocket passer but he’ so dynamic in what he can do and he’s so dangerous outside the pocket that it’s really going to be fun.’’
On what his thoughts were about the Seahawks when he played them twice in 2013 season: “I would say right after the first game, the first thing I noticed was how close they were as an entire unit. Not only their defense but their offense. When their offense is on the field, their defensive guys are right there screaming and yelling and literally being fans of their offense. And when their defense is out there their offensive guys are doing the same thing It just seems like they have a culture there that kind of breeds a brotherhood and they pull for each other and that they kind of compete and it seems like for them it’s all about winning. It’s not about individual anything but about what does it take to get the win and I’m really looking forward to being a part of that.’’
On how he got into flying: “I’ve been flying officially by myself for four of five years now and as a child I always wanted to fly. One of my favorite movies was top Gun, like a lot of kids my age. So I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Unfortunately I’m 6-7 so once I got to the league I started taking classes to get my license, got my license, my private, my instrument, and multi-engine. And I’ve been traveling, before I was traveling back and forth between New Orleans and Miami but I would fly myself. But it looks like I’m not really going to be able to fly from Miami to Seattle in that plane, it’s a little bit further of a flight.’’
On first impressions of meeting with Pete Carroll: “Man I love him. He puts a smile on my face. He really is a player’s coach. Walking into the building yesterday it just seemed like there is a buzz around there, a sense of urgency and just the whole coaching staff did. And the way Pete, him just literally when he sat me down just talking about my basketball career and going back and talking about all these things that he’s heard about me and I could tell that he’s a detail-oriented person. He knew so much about me — half the stuff I had forgotten about and that really means something. I think that means something really to anybody that he would take the time to really learn all of these individual things about me and literally called about very person I’ve ever been with in my life, someway or another, to find out how I was as a person and how I was driven. That truly meant a lot.’’
On what number he will wear since No. 80 is retired here for Steve Largent: “Yeah. It’s a funny story. About five minutes after I hung up with Pete Carroll I started thinking about it. The last time I was in that stadium I remember 80 was hanging in the rafters. Clearly that’s been retired and 80 is done for me. Hopefully, I’m thinking maybe 88 will be my number. It seems like more of a round number but really I don’t care what number they give me. They asked me that, actually, yesterday which number I wanted. They could give me any number. As long as it can be an eligible receiver, I’ll be good.”
On if he had any issues with the New Orleans organization over the franchise tag issue last year: “I hope it didn’t have any really effect. I think as a player, some players actually have a hard time separating business between things getting personal and just business being business. That’s what you always hear. ‘Hey, it’s a business first.’ When you get franchised and you don’t want to be franchised, you’re going to fight that. You’re going to find a way to try and figure out a long-term deal. Most guys want more of a long-term deal. You want more security especially when you’re going out there and you’re going as hard as you can every Sunday and you’re putting it on the line for your team. I think business is business. I think they understand that and I understood that so I don’t think it affected it.”
On if he hadn’t been traded to a team as successful as Seattle if the trade would have been harder to take: “Well, let’s say first off, leaving New Orleans, I’ve been there for the last five years of my career. When I went there I was a boy and I feel like now I’m leaving as a man. I do owe a lot to New Orleans and I owe a lot to that coaching staff and to all my teammates and to that city for accepting me and believing in me really early. But when I look at it, the most important thing to me in my career is winning championships. Winning trophies and winning rings. That’s really all I care about. So for me it’s unfortunate to have to leave somewhere that you’ve been for so long but when you go into an organization like the Seattle Seahawks, an organization that you can tell that’s all that’s on their mind is winning. And winning rings at that, winning championships and that’s their complete focus. For me, highly encouraged and highly motivated just to be a part of that and just to be able to contribute to that ring is all I care about at this point now.”