Benjamin James Graham (born 2 November 1973) is a former professional Australian rules footballer turned professional American football punter of the National Football League (NFL), and is currently the Strategic Operations Manager of the Western Bulldogs.

Graham's 219 game Australian rules career was played exclusively at the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1993 and 2004. As an Aussie rules player, Graham was long noted for his ability to kick extraordinarily long distances with accuracy (in particular his expertise at the torpedo punt). This is one of the key reasons that he was believed to have potential as a professional NFL punter. The left-footer^[1] played for the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Arizona Cardinals of the NFL.

He is the only player to be named a captain of both an AFL and NFL side. During his career, he played in the biggest game of both codes, the AFL Grand Final (1995 AFL Grand Final) and the Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLIII). He was the first Australian to have played in a Super Bowl.

Graham was born in Geelong to mother, Helen,^[2] and father, Tony.^[3] He grew up in Leopold, Victoria, and began playing Aussie rules at a young age for the local Leopold Football Club^[4] in the Bellarine Football League, where his father was a former premiership player and coach. Graham's football ability was obvious from an early age, and he was selected by the Geelong U19s (now Geelong Falcons), where he was first identified by AFL talent scouts.

Graham was recruited by Geelong at pick 40 in the 1992 Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season draft. He was Geelong's "Best First-Year Player" in the reserves team of 1992,^[4] and made his debut with the Geelong seniors late in 1993.

Graham was noted for his long kicking (in particular his expertise at the torpedo punt),^[5] and could play at both ends of the ground as a key-position player. He played at centre half-forward and could convert goals from distances of 60 metres, as well as playing at centre half-back, where his booming kicks cleared the ball from defence, particularly during kickouts. Against Port Adelaide in Round 19, 1999, when Graham was bringing the ball back in from play, he booted the ball just over 85 metres, which was past the centre circle of Simonds Stadium.

Graham played in Geelong's 1995 AFL Grand Final loss to Carlton. For the year, he was named most improved player at Geelong.

Graham won the club's best and fairest award (the Carji Greeves Medal) in 1999.

He followed his 1999 season with another solid season in 2000, finishing runner-up in the best & fairest in a year in which he was also bestowed the honour of the club captaincy.

In 2001, he was inducted into the Geelong Football Club Hall of Fame and granted life membership.

Graham retained the club captaincy until the end of 2002.^[5]

^[6]

Individual

• Geelong captain: 2000–2002
• Carji Greeves Medal: 1999
• Australian team representative honours in the 1999 International Rules Series

Graham was first approached by the New York Jets to try out as a punter in 1997; however, he decided to stay in the AFL.^[7]

In 2004, he surprised many in Australia when he quit Australian rules football and left for the United States to pursue a career as a punter in the National Football League, where he would ultimately be paid many times more than he would have earned in Australia and extended his playing career by many years.

Graham and his wife, Katie, have two daughters, Sophie and Rosie, and one son, Jack.^[17] While playing for the Cats, Graham attended Deakin University in Geelong.

Graham's father and his younger brother, Sam, attended Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida, to watch him when he played for the Arizona Cardinals.^[18] Graham's mother, Helen, died from cancer on 21 April 2009.^[19]