SCOUTING YESTERDAY: South Dakota football star gets another crack at NFL

This week in South Dakota history: Dec. 20-26

Quarterback Neil Graff (Photo: South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame)

Neil Graff of Sioux Falls got another shot at the pros 50 years ago.

The quarterback had been let go by the Minnesota Vikings and had already received an offer from the newly formed World Football League. Graff then received a two-year offer from the New England Patriots.

“I wanted to give the NFL one more good shot before calling it quits.”

Since childhood, Graff had aspirations of becoming a professional athlete. At five years old he was already practicing hours a day.

“Sports was the No. 1 devotion of my life. And it stayed there. Never threatened for the top spot,” according to a 1973 Argus Leader article.

But football wasn’t the sport Graff dreamed of. Basketball and baseball are what he trained for. Football just filled the time between seasons.

It was Whittier Junior High coach Don Erickson that started Graff’s quarterbacking career. Asking his players to hold out their hands, he chose the player with the biggest hands for the position. Graff would go on to play as Lincoln High’s quarterback and was named to the all-state football team as well as the all-state basketball player in his junior year.

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