Football Unpicked in the
1973 NFL draft, Graf attended the
Los Angeles Rams' 1973 fall training camp as a free agent. Playing behind All-Pro
Tom Mack in camp, Graf asked to be traded or released, but was the last man cut from camp, leaving him without an NFL contract. Graf was one of several Trojan graduates to join the
Portland Storm franchise in the new
World Football League, but after the league folded in the middle of its second season, Graf thought his football career was behind him. Frequent collaborations with director Walter Hill gave Graf the experience and confidence to do more than just stunt work; in 1989 he was asked by Hill not only to coordinate stunts for his new film
Johnny Handsome, but also to direct the film's
second unit, a first for Graf.
Sports films Graf's special connection with sports has led him to be one of Hollywood's most capable and experienced football stunt coordinators. Starting with
Gus, Graf has performed or coordinated stunts in over a dozen football-related films. For
Friday Night Lights Graf personally interviewed over 900 candidates for a forty-man roster, including doubles for the actors involved. After deciding on talent, Graf put together a playbook and started the roster running plays, gradually working the actors into the practices. "My rule of thumb is we never hit an actor. We can't afford anyone to get hurt. When we did
Any Given Sunday, we could do some controlled stuff, but it is very limited how much you can do." As the result of his experience coordinating stunts on sports movies, Graf has developed a regular "team" of stuntmen he can call on to get just the right look for the film. Graf's knowledge of the history of the game makes him especially useful. "for
The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, based on
Syracuse's
Ernie Davis in 1961 becoming the first African-American to win the
Heisman Trophy, [Graf] needed smaller players – and ones who could adopt that era's playing styles." ==Personal life==