Twenty-one years ago today, former Geelong captain Ben Graham made his NFL debut with the New York Jets. The anniversary coincides with Melbourne hosting a 2026 NFL season-opening game between bitter rivals the LA Rams and SF 49ers.
The NFL is playing a regular-season game in Australia. How big is this for Melbourne, and what do you make of the 49ers and Rams taking entirely different approaches to their travel?
Graham: The data says there are 8 million NFL fans in Australia who have touched the game in some way. To bring a regular-season game here is a monumental factor in the growth of the game internationally. It will be 21 years to the day that I played my first game in the NFL, and I would have had no idea back then that in 21 years’ time, there’d be a game played in Australia. It will take over Melbourne and sit right up there in the top tier of events with the Grand Prix and stadium concerts.
As for the travel, there will be lessons learned on both fronts. I would prefer to be the 49ers, coming out a week early to acclimatise and experience Melbourne, and integrate into local events and charities. But I also admire that the Rams are treating this purely as a business trip. The result of the game will determine which approach worked best.
What was the process of bringing the NFL to Australia, and how involved were you?
Graham: The narrative wasn’t an “if,” but a “when.” At the Super Bowl 18 months ago, we interviewed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and he said that he wanted to grow the game to the point where they hosted 16 international games a year. This year we’re up to nine games in seven countries on four continents. There’s still a ways to go, but the growth is undeniable.
When you look at this first game in Melbourne, it’s not just an exhibition. It’s the Rams and the 49ers – a true divisional matchup in the NFC West, kicking off the regular season. It’s prime time in the US, and it’s going to be broadcast to over 200 million people. It’s bigger than Ben-Hur.
What do you hear from Aussies about the NFL, how much understanding is there about the sport currently in your experience?
Graham: Historically, people have said it’s too long, too stop-start, or that they can’t engage with a sport where people wear helmets and pads. I’m ok with that, because I was one of those people! When I went over to the US in 2004 to work out with clubs, I didn’t really understand the game either. It wasn’t until I understood the rules and strategy that I was totally engrossed.
My work on Channel 7’s NFL Tailgate show and on radio with SEN is an educational piece and a fun piece. People tell me, “I never liked the NFL, but thanks to your explanations, I know what I’m looking at, I follow a team, and I have a fantasy league.” That education is a big part of converting casual sports lovers into diehard fans.
Having played both at the highest level, how do you explain the difference between an AFL athlete and an NFL athlete?
Graham: The way I explain it to Americans is that in the AFL, you have to be about a six out of 10, to a nine out of 10, in about six different disciplines. You have to bring a blend of speed, skill, aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, and courage. You don’t have to be the best at everything, but you’ve got to have a blend of it all to make it.
The NFL is the very pointy end of elite sport. To make it, you need to be a 10 out of 10 in one thing. Quarterbacks need a great arm and decision-making; wide receivers need elite speed and hands. For what I did as a punter, there are only 32 jobs in the world, and you just need to be able to kick the ball high and long. In the AFL, you can make mistakes and have the rest of the game to make up for it. In the NFL, you’ve got one shot, one job. What they say in the NFL is “Do your job and trust the guy next to you to do his.”
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How is the business and culture of the two sports different?
Graham: They are completely different financial models. But one of the biggest differences is that when you start your NFL career, you are already a ready-made commodity. You are mature, developed, and educated.
The AFL is very much still a developmental sport. We draft kids at 18 and expect them to come on in two to three years. It’s the only professional sport in the world that essentially develops its talent while they’re playing professional sport. There is none of that in the NFL. You are watching the finished product. That’s a part of why the NFL is truly “any given Sunday” – anybody can beat anybody, regardless of roster talent.
Take us back to your transition. How did a Geelong captain end up punting for the New York Jets?
Graham: It first came on my radar in 1992 during an AFL longest kick competition. Darren Bennett won a trip to LA and used that to embark on his NFL career. Fast forward to 1997, Eric Mangini was coaching the Jets and sent a crew to Melbourne to work me out. They offered me a three-year futures contract, but I was entering the prime of my AFL career, so I shelved it.
It wasn’t until late 2004 that I went to the US to try out for the NFL Jets, Giants, Patriots, and Vikings. I had retired from Geelong, but it took almost 12 months before I actually made the Jets roster. I was training for the unknown, moving my wife and two young daughters halfway around the world with no guarantees.
Training camp was a real challenge. I went head-to-head with a veteran punter and had to beat him for the job. I had to completely rebuild my technique to punt a ball in under 1.2 seconds wearing full pads. It was a tough period, but all worth it when I ran out for the Jets on September 11, 2005.
How do you see the NFL growing in Australia in 10 or 20 years?
Graham: I’m going to dream big here: Australia eventually gets its own NFL franchise, or at least multiple regular-season games across different cities like Sydney and Melbourne.
We’re going to see more Australian players coming through pathways like the NFL Academy in Queensland. We’re already seeing flag football at a grassroots level where boys and girls can play a non-contact sport and dream of representing their country. It is going to be an Olympic sport in LA, and I’d like to see it become a staple on the Olympic schedule, potentially for Brisbane in 2032.
With the older generation who grew up watching Don Lane in the ’80s alongside the younger generation playing Madden and fantasy leagues, we are reaching a critical mass. The NFL can become a tier-one sport in this country right alongside the AFL and NRL. The sky’s the limit.
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