"What's In a Name"

The famous Shakespeare once wrote in one of his plays “What is in a name? Well there is a lot in a name when it comes to the High Point Raven’s CB, #2 William Graham IV! The Graham name has held many spots throughout its existence within William’s family, from his grandfather to his uncles, and his father. Football has always been a large part of the Graham’s from when his grandfather William Graham Jr. puts his own sons in the sport at young ages. They took it and ran long and far with it. Will’s two uncles both played quarterback at the high school and college levels, but ended their careers there. Will’s dad William Graham III played running back in high school where he won a state championship, before moving on to playing some college at Johnson C. Smith. He eventually went to the marines where he became a powerhouse running back, gaining recognition and offered tryouts for the Atlanta Falcons, before blowing his knee ending his career. This brings us to the man on the field, William Graham IV!
William also known as Will on the team began his playing days at the young age of five in the flag football league. He followed in his uncles footsteps playing Quarterback for his young years, well on to his High school days. Will, then went on to play tackle football at the age of eight helping his team to the city league championship game where they unfortunately lost. He then moved on to middle school where he helped lead his team to a division championship and an undefeated season. High during high school Will continued his position at quarterback, playing over at Grimsley High School, freshman and part of his sophomore year. He transferred to Page for the remainder of his sophomore year before he was redistricted to Western Guilford HS. Western would pose a challenge for Will, because the school already had a quarterback, so Will decided to try a new position and took on the Corner position. It took him no time to demonstrate skills at this position posting a record of six interceptions his senior year before leaving the team to focus more time on his Wrestling. As talented as Will was he did not excel on to the college level, despite the offers from colleges, do to his grades.
Will never gave up on his dream of playing football though, using his uncles and fathers as a fuel to his determination he sought out football wherever he could find it from pickup games to flag football leagues. It was not until 2008 that, Will found a home here with the High Point Ravens Semi- Pro team. He brought great talent to the team at the Corner spot, but become discouraged early into the season, and ended up leaving after a few games. He came back this year though with a new game plan, a game plan to “BE THE BEST,” as he says! He came into the preseason on fire along with fellow corner Chris Ingram, both grabbing 2 interceptions over their first four preseason games. It was not enough for Will though who began to pick up as the season went on. Will stepped up this season finishing out the season with 10 interceptions, three of which he grabbed against the Richmond Co. Golden Bears, in route to setting a new Ravens All- Time record. Will’s mind set worked out for him helping him land his first All-Star appearance in the CCFL where he went on to grab down two more interceptions. One was grabbed in the 2nd quarter and the second came right after the start of the 3rd quarter. Will had 1 forced fumble and recovery in the 4 quarter of the All-Star Game. Will also had 5 tackles adding to his other stats for the night helping Will go on to be named the 2009 CCFL All-Star Defensive MVP. Will still has one more All-Star Game this coming month for the Alliance Football League.
Will looks to start this coming season in a new league and hopes to be able to repeat his accomplishments if not improve them. He is also thinking about a position change back to quarterback, but keeps his main focus on his CB spot, which has become his passion. Will is also considering trying to take his game to the next level over to Europe or Canada or even to the Arena Leagues, but maintains focus on his Ravens for now. “I love my team like brothers, and have all of their backs if they ever need me to. I just want to take this past season remove the weak parts, and rebuild a stronger team that will go on to run this new league we are going to. If I get the chance to play in one of the Europe Leagues or Arena, or even the NFL or Canada then yea I will make my moves, to be able to create a better life for my wife and son, but until then you can find me making plays on the Ravens Defense or maybe even Offense. I’m going to push that Graham name to the max, and then step back and let my son take over. So stay tuned to the Ravens, we are about to make it happen in 2010!”