All players find their motivation from different sources. Some get it from rivals on the field. Others seek fame and fortune. Then there are those who discover their inner drive via their family. New Chicago Bears cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. fits that description. Yet it isn’t the typical reason you’re thinking. The 6th round pick wasn’t driven by a desire to pull his family out of poverty or anything like that. It was far simpler.
He was tired of being in the shadow of his sister, Jasmyn Graham.
That may sound odd coming from a current NFL cornerback, but it’s true. On the latest episode of 1920 Football Drive, the Bears’ web series on YouTube, footage of Graham’s pre-draft interviews were released. In it, he described how he grew to hate constantly being thought of as “Jasmyn’s little brother.” Back in high school, she was a track and field superstar. While she was busy winning medals, he was lost in the background.
He couldn’t stand it.
It is hard to blame Graham for this. Sibling rivalry is real. Especially in families with deep ties to competitive sports. Jasmyn was indeed a star in high school. She was California state champion in both the 100M high hurdles and 300M intermediate hurdles. This earned her a scholarship to USC. After one year there, she ended up transferring to UNLV where her success continued. She won the 100M hurdles in the Mountain West championships in 2018 and finished second on three other occasions.
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Sadly her career was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Her brother certainly felt that pain. After three productive seasons at Oregon from 2017 to 2019, Graham chose to opt out of playing last year. That decision, while understandable, likely cost him the chance to get drafted earlier back in April. So it is easy to see why he was overjoyed when the Bears grabbed him at the end of the 6th round. He’d finally achieved something comparable to his sister.
Thomas Graham has a chance to finally emerge from her shadow
He isn’t the first to be in this position. Pro basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller had a similar problem. That’s right. One of the all-time greatest shooters in NBA history was considered second class by many even coming out of college thanks to his sister Cheryl Miller. She herself was arguably the greatest women’s basketball player on the planet. A two-time NCAA champion and three-time Naismith Player of the Year. She was also a gold medalist in the 1984 Olympics.
One could argue that the burning fury of being compared to her was what drove Miller to the heights he achieved. The same could happen to Thomas Graham. He took the first critical step by making it to the NFL. Now the next is finding his way onto the field. The competition at cornerback will be wide open in training camp this year.
He’ll have a golden opportunity to play right away if he can impress.
His time at Oregon demonstrated a smart, instinctive athlete with a nose for the football. If he can learn to play with the necessary discipline against top receivers, he’ll finally be able to say he’s not Jasmyn’s little brother anymore. She’s his older sister. That will probably go over quite well at family dinners.