College career Freshman and redshirt freshman seasons In 2004, Harrell
redshirted his first season at
Texas Tech. The following season, he served as the backup quarterback behind another Texas Tech record setter,
Cody Hodges, who led college football in passing yards in 2005.
Sophomore season Harrell started in every game of the 2006 season, beating out classmate
Chris Todd. Harrell got the Raiders off to a quick start with wins over
Southern Methodist University,
The University of Texas at El Paso,
Southeastern Louisiana University and conference rival
Texas A&M. The lone Red Raider loss was to
Texas Christian University, 12–3 in the third game of the season. Despite the 4–1 start, Harrell was benched halfway through the next game due to poor play after the Raiders fell behind the
Missouri Tigers 24–0, and Todd was inserted for two series. Harrell came back into the game and got the Raiders within 3 points before the half but struggled in the second half as Tech lost 38–21. The next week against a winless
Colorado team that Tech was heavily favored to beat, Harrell once again was benched in favor of Todd for a 4 interception game resulting in a 30–6 loss. However, Harrell rebounded to throw for 6 touchdowns against the
Iowa State Cyclones and then threw for 519 yards and 3 touchdowns against the
Texas Longhorns in a narrow 35–31 loss. The Raiders finished the season with a 55–21 win against the Baylor Bears, a 34–24 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners, and a 30–24 win against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas Tech finished the regular season 7–5 (4–4 in the Big 12) and received an invitation to the
2006 Insight Bowl. The 7–5 Red Raiders faced off against the 6–6 Minnesota Golden Gophers at the
2006 Insight Bowl in
Tempe, Arizona. Texas Tech struggled on both offense and defense during first 3 quarters of the Insight Bowl. The
Minnesota Golden Gophers outscored Tech 38–7 through the end of the 3rd quarter. The Red Raiders, sparked by a 43-yard touchdown from Harrell to
Joel Filani, went on to outscore the Gophers 31–0 through the end of regulation sending the game into overtime. On the final drive, Harrell drove the Red Raider offense almost 70 yards in less than a minute to set up the game-tying field goal by
Alex Trlica. Following a Minnesota field goal, Tech scored a touchdown to win the game 44–41 capping a 31-point deficit, setting the record for the largest comeback victory in FBS bowl history. Harrell threw for 445 yards, two touchdowns, and 1 rushing touchdown and was named the offensive MVP.
Senior season Entering his senior season, Harrell had 89 career passing touchdowns, putting him within range of
Colt Brennan's NCAA record of 131 touchdowns. Before the beginning of his final season,
CBS Sports listed Harrell as a Heisman hopeful. Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree's name also appeared on the list. Harrell was also named one of 26 candidates for the 2008
Unitas Award, given to the nation's best senior college football quarterback. Additionally, his name appeared among 30 other quarterbacks in the
Davey O'Brien Award watch list. Harrell, along with coach
Mike Leach and teammate Michael Crabtree were featured on the cover of the 2008 edition of ''
Dave Campbell's Texas Football''. To support the Heisman campaign of both Harrell and Crabtree, Texas Tech created a website called PassOrCatch2008.com, which is modeled after political campaigns. The site garnered national attention and was awarded a Telly Award which honors the best in local, regional, and cable commercials and programs, as well as online videos, films, and commercials. After leading the Red Raiders to a victory over the #1
Texas Longhorns, Harrell and teammate Daniel Charbonnet were selected for Big 12 Player of the Week honors. Harrell also overtook Texas quarterback Colt McCoy at the top of the Heisman poll. Harrell was also one of ten finalists for the
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and one of thirteen finalists for the
Davey O'Brien Award. Following the inaugural game of the
2008 season, where Texas Tech defeated the
Eastern Washington Eagles, 49–24, Harrell was selected as the
AT&T ESPN All-America Player. After the Red Raiders 58–28 victory over the
Kansas State Wildcats, Harrell received two more honors. He was recognized as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and the
O'Brien Quarterback of the Week. During the game against Kansas State, Harrell broke the all-time record for passing yards at Texas Tech. The previous record, set by
Kliff Kingsbury, was 12,429 yards. After the game, Harrell's record stood at 12,709 yards. After Tech's 65–21 loss to Oklahoma, Harrell's chances of winning the Heisman were reduced. Harrell finished fourth in the Heisman race but did not receive an invitation to attend the presentation ceremony. Michael Crabtree finished fifth. In the final regular season game against Baylor, Harrell shattered two of his fingers (the pinkie and middle finger) of his non-throwing hand during the second quarter. At halftime, Harrell's hand was x-rayed, and medical examiners advised Harrell to discontinue playing in the game. Harrell replied, "Tape my hand up. I'm going out." Harrell played the rest of the game with black tape around his fingers. He finished with 309 total passing yards and two touchdowns. With the victory, Tech clinched a share of the
Big 12 South title, though fell short at going to the Big 12 Championship Game. On the day following the Baylor game, Harrell underwent a four-hour surgery, in which 17 pins and two plates were inserted into his injured hand to heal nine different breaks. He was later cleared to play in the postseason bowl game. On December 2, 2008, Harrell and teammate Michael Crabtree were named as
Walter Camp Award finalists. On December 4, 2008, the
American Football Coaches Association compiled its 2008 AFCA Coaches' All-American Team, with Harrell headlining the list. On October 25, 2008, Graham Harrell passed
Philip Rivers to move into sole possession of third place for passing yardage in a career. On November 22, 2008, Harrell passed
Ty Detmer to move into second for passing yardage in a career behind
Timmy Chang. On January 2, 2009, Harrell played his final collegiate game, a 34–47 loss to
Ole Miss in the
2009 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. In the game, Harrell finished his college career with an NCAA all-time record of 134 passing touchdowns, breaking the previous mark of 131 set by
Colt Brennan. He also equaled Brennan's record of 147 career touchdowns passing, rushing, and receiving, a record that would be broken
the following year by
Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour. Harrell also compiled 5,111 passing yards in the season, becoming the first NCAA player to post multiple 5,000-yard passing seasons.
College statistics NCAA records Harrell holds 8 Individual NCAA records. See also
NCAA records held by individual Red Raiders The NCAA Records book also mentions Graham Harrell for the following items: He participated in rookie camp for the
Cleveland Browns in May 2009 but was not signed despite coach
Eric Mangini giving Harrell praise. UFL Access reported that Harrell would work out in front of
United Football League representatives in
Las Vegas.
Saskatchewan Roughriders On July 20, 2009, Harrell signed a two-year plus an option contract with the
Saskatchewan Roughriders of the
Canadian Football League, joining former Texas Tech teammate
Eric Morris who had signed months earlier. After a brief stay in the CFL, Harrell requested to be released from his CFL contract to pursue his NFL options, and was released by the Roughriders on April 22, 2010.
Green Bay Packers Harrell signed with the
Green Bay Packers on May 19, 2010. On December 18, Harrell was signed to the active roster due to an injury to
Aaron Rodgers. On September 3, 2011, the Packers released Harrell, but they re-signed him on September 4, 2011, to the practice squad. On December 7, 2011, the Packers again signed Harrell to the active roster. After the departure of primary back-up
Matt Flynn, Harrell was promoted to the active roster full-time and was named Rodgers' primary backup. On September 30, 2012, Graham played in his first game for Green Bay. Coming in for one snap in the red zone, Harrell took the snap to hand off to
Cedric Benson, but was tripped by his center, resulting in a fumbled hand off and a lost fumble. Harrell appeared in four regular-season games, completing 2 of 4 passes for 20 yards. He hosted a weekly sports talk show called the "Witt Ford Red Zone with Graham Harrell" every Monday during the 2012 season on 104.1 FM WRLU and archived at DoorCountyDailyNews.com. Harrell struggled in the pre-season and on August 24, 2013,
USA Today reported that Green Bay would be releasing Harrell, as former
Tennessee Titans quarterback
Vince Young outplayed Harrell according to the Packers coaching staff in the pre-season.
New York Jets Harrell was signed by the
New York Jets on August 28, 2013. He was brought in after reserve quarterback
Greg McElroy re-injured his knee. Harrell played for one series at the end of the Jets' final 2013 preseason game against the
Eagles in relief of
Matt Simms. He was released on September 2, 2013, after the Jets signed
Brady Quinn. ==Coaching career==