Football player finds success through hard work, dedication

Thunderous roars of laughter erupted and then ricocheted off the walls of the high school classroom. The cause of the ruckus: star student-athlete Keenan Graham, dancing before his senior math class.

Graham was a defensive end for the Silverado Skyhawks varsity football team who, in his junior year, completed 72 tackles and 15 sacks in 11 games. In his senior year, Graham completed 72 tackles and eight sacks in nine games.

His skills earned him renown on the college-sports circuit. Graham was offered 32 full-ride scholarships by colleges across the country, including Virginia Tech, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland. Graham committed to the University of California, Los Angeles.

"I wanted to be at a school where I could get a great education," he says of UCLA, where he was scheduled to report June 21, 10 days after graduating from high school.

This doesn't leave Graham much of a summer to enjoy, but he isn't bothered a bit, because he doesn't see what he's doing as a job.

"When you're doing something you love, it doesn't feel like work," says Graham, who instead describes football as "an escape."

"It means a lot to me, and it's been useful to me through tough times," he says. "You can relate it to life in so many ways."

Graham says his favorite part of the game is the "intense," "exciting" and "nerve-wracking" situations "when you need to make a play to win a game." Overcoming those situations, he says, is "the best feeling in the world." And perhaps his success on the field is due to his hard work and dedication to the team.

"My goal is to make plays, and do anything I can to help my team," Graham says.

But Graham has to work hard off the field as well. "It's about what you do when nobody is there," he says.

Despite his success in football and recent fame, he remains focused, thanks at least in part to parental advice.

"My mom always tells me to stay humble; doing that will get me far," he says. He also reminds himself "there is always someone next to you, depending on you."

Despite his busy schedule, Graham finds time for an active social life.

"I go to the park to play basketball, hang with my friends, go see movies and play pool," he says. Like anyone at his age he's unsure what the future holds and hasn't chosen a course of study.

But his eye is always on two goals, Graham says, to "do well in football and get my education."