Graham Harrell Graham Stanton Harrell ( born May 22 , 1985 ) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent . He was signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2009 as an undrafted free agent . After his stint in the Canadian Football League , Harrell was signed into the National Football League in 2010 by the Green Bay Packers . He played college football at Texas Tech University , where he was an All - American quarterback and set school , conference and national records for passing yards , attempts , completions , and touchdown passes . Early years . Harrell played at Ennis High School in Ennis , Texas , where he was coached by his father , Sam Harrell . He was the starting quarterback for three seasons and led the Ennis High Fighting Lions to a state Class 4A title as a sophomore . He also played in the 2004 Oil Bowl , receiving the offensive MVP award . Harrell set Texas high school records in the following categories : In addition , Harrell ranks second in career pass completions ( 805 from 2000 – 2003 ) . 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 the nation in passing in the 2005 College Football Season . Sophomore season . Harrell started in every game of the 2006 season . He threw for 4 , 555 passing yards , the third - most by a sophomore in NCAA Division I FBS history and the most ever thrown by a sophomore in the history of the Big 12 . Texas Tech finished the season 7 - 5 ( 4 - 4 in the Big 12 ) and received an invitation to the 2006 Insight Bowl . Texas Tech struggled on both offense and defense during first 3 quarters of the Insight Bowl . The Minnesota Golden Gophers outscored Tech 38 to 7 through the end of the 3rd quarter . The Red Raiders , sparked by a 43 - yard TD 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 ; the largest come - from - behind victory in NCAA FBS bowl history . Harrell threw for 445 yards 2 TDs and 1 rushing TD and was named the Offensive MVP . Junior season . Following his decision to return to school rather than enter the 2008 NFL Draft , Harrell continued the success he had the previous season . Harrell won several awards during the 2007 season including the Sammy Baugh Trophy recognizing the nation ' s top college passer . He is the third Texas Tech quarterback to receive the award , following Kliff Kingsbury ( 2002 ) and B . J . Symons ( 2003 ) . 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 leaped McCoy to make it to 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 . Following the 63 – 21 win over # 18 Kansas on October 25 , 2008 , Harrell was again named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week . Teammate Matt Williams was named the Special Teams Player of the Week . 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 . The University of Texas was selected to take the Big 12 ' s BCS at large bid , while Tech was relegated to the Cotton Bowl and then to add insult to injury , Harrell was not selected to attend the Heisman Ceremony despite having more touchdown passes than both Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow , having a higher completion percentage than Tebow and Sam Bradford , and having more passing yards than all three candidates . 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 . In December 2008 , Harrell , Coach Mike Leach , Leach ' s wife , and Blayne Beal , the associate Tech media relations director , were in Baltimore for the presentation of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award to Harrell . While there , they received an invitation to Washington , D . C . , to meet the president . On December 13 , 2008 , the group toured the White House and met with President George W . Bush , who disclosed that he watches college football on a regular basis . Bush also told Leach that he frequently talks with his 1978 congressional election rival , Kent Hance , the Texas Tech chancellor . 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 . Awards and honors . Harrell has received multiple honors , including the 2008 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award . Professional career . Pre - draft . Following his senior season at Texas Tech , Harrell entered the 2009 NFL Draft but went undrafted . He participated with the Cleveland Browns in their rookie camp the first weekend in May 2009 but was not signed . 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 . 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 . He was released on September 4 , but was re - signed to the practice squad the next day . 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 . On September 30 , 2012 , Graham played in his first game for Green Bay . Coming in for one snap in the red zone , Harrell tripped on his center , resulting in a botched hand off and a lost fumble . Harrell 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 . On August 24 , 2013 , USA Today reported that Green Bay would be releasing Harrell . 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 . He was released on September 2 , 2013 after the Jets signed Brady Quinn . Personal . Harrell is the son of Sam and Kathy Harrell . He was born in Brownwood , where his grandfather served as assistant coach to Gordon Wood . Harrell has an older brother , Zac , who was a receiver on Ennis High ' s 2000 State Championship team , and is a graduate of the University of North Texas and coaches football on the high school level as he serves as Offensive Coordinator at Van High School in Van , Texas . Graham also has a younger brother , Clark Harrell , who played a year at quarterback for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane . Clark transferred to Abilene Christian University after his freshman season at Tulsa and graduated from ACU in 2011 . Sam Harrell , Graham ' s father , was the highest paid high school coach in Texas as of the 2005 - 06 academic year . He coached at Reagan County ( 1990 – 1993 ) and Ennis ( 1994 - " 2009 " ) before retiring from coaching duties in December 2010 due to health problems . Sam returned to the sidelines after over 2 years of aggressive treatment for Multiple Sclerosis and coaches in Brownwood under Bob Shipley , father of Jacksonville Jaguars and former Texas wideout Jordan Shipley .