Graham believes Thorson will add to Wheaton's QB legacy in NFL
Of all the great quarterbacks from Wheaton, Kent Graham had the longest NFL career, with 38 starts for the New York Giants, Arizona and Pittsburgh.
He will be watching this weekend as the quarterback he helped groom, Northwestern's Clayton Thorson, makes the step from college to professional.
To say Graham and Thorson go back a long way would be slightly inaccurate. They go all the way back, since Graham became friends with Thorson's father, Chad, during their college years.
"I've known Clayton since he was born," Graham said this week. "His dad and I, we knew each other when we were in college. My wife and Chad's wife were like best friends growing up. It's a long story."
So when Thorson got his start as an aspiring quarterback, it was both natural and convenient for Graham to become his coach.
"We're neighbors, essentially," Graham said. "We have a little field right next to our house that we just throw at. My son, along with Clayton and the neighborhood kids, it kind of started that way. So when Clayton was in fourth or fifth grade, we were always throwing the ball around.
"Then I really started training him in junior high and high school and just was kind of the quarterback coach. Just followed him all through college, tried to help him where I could. And it's been a blast following him."
Thorson finished his college career as a four-year starter at Northwestern, leading the Wildcats to their first Big Ten championship game less than a year after suffering a torn ACL.
It's difficult to tell when exactly Thorson will get picked in this weekend's NFL draft. It won't be in the first round, but his stock appears to be rising. For example, cbssports.com has Thorson going in the fourth round to Carolina.
Graham was an eighth-round pick of the New York Giants in 1992 after playing at Ohio State.
"You never know where he'll get drafted and the situation he'll get put in - the team, the system," Graham said. "There's some luck to this. "If he hits it right, stays healthy, can get on a good team, good system, I think he could be a starter in the NFL very easily, just with his skill set.
"He's got all the intangibles that it takes to be the face of a franchise and to warrant the respect of teammates, the locker room, all of that. He's very smart. He knows how to manipulate protections, knows how to do things that it's going to take mentally to take that step.
"His learning curve is going to be short. The teams that do their due diligence on him will realize that he understands the game very well."
Graham appreciates being able to continue the legacy of Wheaton quarterbacks. The impressive run at Wheaton North probably began with Rick Johnson in the late 1970s. He went on to lead Southern Illinois to the Division I-AA national championship in 1983, then played in Canada and the USFL.
Chuck Long, a few years older than Graham, starred at Iowa and was the No. 12 overall pick in the 1986 NFL draft. He ended up starting 21 games for Detroit.
The QB legacy switched over to Wheaton Warrenville South in the 1990s as the school produced Jon Beutjer, who played at Illinois, Tim Lester at Western Michigan, Reilly O'Toole at Illinois and Kent's nephew Ryan Graham at Northern Illinois.
Kent's son Taylor got the quarterback tradition rolling again at Wheaton North a few years before Thorson arrived. Taylor Graham played in college at Ohio State and Hawaii and now coaches at Wheaton College.
"I absolutely do (appreciate the legacy)," Graham said. "Chuck and I have actually talked about this. I think it's pretty amazing, unique for the town."
Perhaps the latest star in an impressive group will take Wheaton's quarterback history to an even higher level.
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