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LB Chris Graham finds success in CFL after shining in Europe

In his first season in the European League LB Chris Graham achieved outstanding milestones. Just a few months later, Graham found success in CFL recording 2 sacks and a fumble recovery in his first CFL game.

By David Harper
Aug 4, 10:01 pm EDT

Pro football is all about opportunities – who seizes them and who doesn’t.

Linebacker Chris Graham, 26, has already seized several international opportunities on his quest to make it back to the NFL. After a brilliant career at the University of Michigan, Graham never found the right situation in NFL to showcase his talent moving from Detroit to New Orleans and Cincinnati.

When offered the opportunity to play in the European League after a year out of football, Graham was all for it. "It was a great chance to get back on the field and get some film showing how hard I play every snap. I wanted to play live games to make the best impression when the next opportunity would come" says Graham looking back at his outstanding season in Europe.

Following his 2010 season in Germany, Graham sent his European film to CFL teams and caught the eye of Roughriders director of player personnel Craig Smith.

"What really caught my eye was his ability to strike and I didn't give a rat's patoot about where he was doing it," Smith said. "It was in Germany and you could tell he was all over the field, but the thing that I liked was his ability to hit. I can hardly wait until that happens here."

First invited to a free agent camp in Orlando, Graham was soon on his way to the 2011 Roughriders CFL camp in Saskatchewan, Canada.

While still learning the Canadian game, Graham made an immediate impact in his first game recording two quarterback sacks and one fumble recovery.

But despite these great numbers Graham believes he has a lot of work ahead of him to reach his goal and get back to the NFL. “It wasn’t my best,” the rookie import said Sunday. “It’s fine from the outside looking in but from a player (point of view) when you go back and look at film, you see a lot of things you can correct. I did OK for my first game here. I was excited. I was all over the place. Now I know what to expect. You learn from your mistakes and get better.”

Asked about his time in Germany, Graham raved about the experience and even noted some similarities to Saskatchewan.

“Good organization there, longtime tradition,” he said. “The fans come out and go crazy for you. It’s something everyone wouldn’t have done but it was the opportunity for a vacation trip and on business. I had a big year in a good League. It was a blast. The community is a blast and I got to learn a different language. That was really fun.”

"I went there for a reason," he said. "It was my job. To them, it was probably something they like doing, but it was my job.

"Now I'm going to try to make the best of it because who knows? I didn't think I'd be in Canada while I was in Germany and I didn't think I was going to be in Germany when I was in the NFL," he said with a laugh. "God puts you in the right places."

NFL third round draft pick seeks playing time in Europe

Wednesday, April 15, 2011 - 8:47 AM

By Walter Hoffenbauer

PRO FOOTBALL INTERNATIONAL has announced the signing in Europe of former Philadelphia Eagles running back Tony Hunt.

Tony Hunt, 25, spent two seasons with the Eagles after being drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft in 2007.

A punishing running back, Hunt was a four-year starter at Penn State. The San Antonio native finished his career with the Penn State Nittany Lions gaining a total of 3,320 yards on 654 carries, averaging 5.1 yards a carry. He scored a total of 25 touchdowns on the ground and was ranked as the second leading rusher in school history behind NFL rushing great Curt Warner.

His senior year, Hunt was awarded both the Outback Bowl MVP and Senior Bowl MVP in 2007 and finished the season with 1386 yards and 11 touchdowns averaging 106 yards per game.

Hunt was met at the airport by European journalists and gave his first comments: "I've been training to get back to the NFL or UFL. So when I got this call I thought that was the perfect opportunity. It's a great chance to come out here play football and leave the country for the first time in my life. Altogether it's a really great thing for my career."

It was a quick decision for Hunt to come play in Europe "I didn't know much about the league but Rodney Kinlaw and Austin Scott who were also recruited by PRO FOOTBALL INTERNATIONAL were my teammates in Penn States and had only great things to say about their experience in Europe. So for me it was a perfect timing to get back on the field and get ready for NFL camps with some live games". After his first game in Europe, Hunt added "My agent did not know much about this league so I did not really know what to expect but everything has been great and it is the best decision for my career right now. So hopefully I will get back in NFL camps in the summer and I'll definitely be ready."

Hunt's team has just reached the European League's semi-final and will play against the number one team in Europe on May 29th for a spot in the Eurobowl final.

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HUNT'S EUROPEAN ADVENTURE PAID OFF

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 7:33 AM

By Allen Cameron
Calgary Herald

At first, Tim Hunt was skeptical.

The 25-year-old defensive tackle was at home in Alabama, pondering a return to Arena football after spending the 2008 season indoors, and working part-time at the local Home Depot when he received an odd inquiry through a European sport management company to play for a football team he’d never heard of — the Swarco Raiders Tirol. It’s a team based in Innsbruck, Austria — about as far away as possible from the football mainstream as you could ever imagine.

DE Tim Hunt (left) in action for the Calgary Stampeders in CFL

“This PRO FOOTBALL INTERNATIONAL agent in Europe somehow got my details,” said a smiling Hunt on Friday, moments after a training-camp practice with the Calgary Stampeders. “I didn’t know him at all, but he saw my highlight clip (from his days at the University of North Alabama) on YouTube, he sent me an email and it went from there.”

That innocent query led not only to Hunt’s first trip to Europe — his first flight, in fact — but also a starring role with the Raiders, who went on to claim their second straight European Football League Eurobowl crown last July with a victory over the Paris Flash in front of a record crowd of 6,500.

“I had no idea they play football in Europe,” said Hunt, who’s been one of the standout rookies on the defensive line over the past week. “I knew there was NFL Europe, but they did away with that, and I didn’t know there was still a league there. So when he hit me up, I thought he was playing with me.

DE Tim Hunt (right) says he was able to work on his pass rush
skills in Europe with an all-US college coaching staff

“I would say level of play was on a college level, a Division 1-AA college level. It’s pretty solid, and I became a better football player over there. They gave me a chance to work on my pass rushing and other things. And it was good quality coaching; the 7 coaches over there were U.S. college coaches.”

Hunt was one of five

Two years removed from the end of his career at ULM, former Warhawk quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster is taking his game international.

The Germany Football League’s Kiel Baltic Hurricanes will be Lancaster’s new team. Lancaster joins the team just in time for a playoff run. The Hurricanes have appeared in the last two German Bowls, failing each time to claim the title.

Lancaster is coming off a successful rookie season in the Arena One League, where he played for the Bossier City BattleWings. His eight touchdowns and 330 yards was fifth best on the BattleWings in all purpose yards while playing receiver and kick returner. Late in the season he was once again under center where he passed for seven TDs and 426 yards and just one interception.

Lancaster was recruited by PRO FOOTBALL INTERNATIONAL, the leading European football player agency.

After a CFL camp and a successful 2010 AFL season
QB Kinsmon Lancaster continues to improve his skills in Europe.

CLINT KENT’S JOURNEY BACK TO THE CFL BOOSTED BY EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

Sunday, August 15, 2010

By Kirk Pentam
Winnipeg Tribune

WINNIPEG, MD - Former James Madison University standout defensive-back Clint Kent had a promising rookie season in CFL with the Toronto Argonauts. But Kent lost the starting job during the following camp and eventually he was released a few weeks later.

While waiting for another shot at a pro camp, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Kent kept working out as hard as he had ever been at his former college. "Watching JMU football games, I felt like live action was definitely a missing part in my work-outs” Kent said after Wednesday's practice. “I wanted to get better on the field and make sure I would perform at my very best right away at the next CFL camp" Kent noted.

DB Clint Kent's 2007 rookie season in CFL with the Montréal Alouettes

Kent had heard about the European League from a friend and knew it was the kind of opportunity that would help him to improve his skills.

“I talked to an agent working for PRO FOOTBALL INTERNATIONAL, he had the perfect opportunity lined up for me with the best program in Finland."

“The team took great care of all the imports,” comments Kent. “They flew me over and took care of everything over there so I was able to save most of my salary”. It was the perfect opportunity for Kent to focus on football and polish his skills.

“The competition was pretty good and some guys on the team had experience at colleges like Nebraska, Texas Tech or San Diego State. A few others came out of NFL Europe,” adds Kent.

Clint Kent had a career day at the finish Championship game

“I even got the MVP at the Championship game” says a smiling Kent who recorded 11 tackles, intercepted the opponent twice and returned a pick for a touchdown. He added a 92 yards kick-off return for another score. “It was a great all around experience to travel the world, stay focused on football and work on my skills” says Kent who never lost his focus on his goal to return to the CFL.

Clint Kent back in action in CFL against his former team on August 14th 2010

Coming back from Finland, Kent had a work-out with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and was signed immediately. Early August, Kent came off the bench with two strong weeks, recording a total 14 tackles and 1 interception.

Today Kent starts again in CFL and is rewarded for his hard work in Europe. “It is a great feeling to be back in this League and perform again” says Kent. “It feels like I never left.”

Clint Kent is back in CFL with the Blue Bombers and
recorded 7 tackles and an interception on week 7

A few months after playing in Europe, Clint Kent was able
to perform at a high level right away in CFL camp

Source: cfl.ca and bluebombers.com

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