Walter D . Graham Walter DeWitt " Octy " Graham ( January 23 , 1885 – July 14 , 1927 ) was an American football player . He played for the University of Michigan from 1904 to 1907 and was one of the leading players on the famed " Point - a - Minute " teams of 1904 and 1905 . Early years . A native of Chicago , Graham attended the English High and Manual Training School and the North Division High School . In 1901 , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " reported that a " young Hercules " had been discovered in a Chicago high school : " HIGH SCHOOL BOY A MARVEL OF STRENGTH . < br > Walter D . Graham is the young Hercules in strength discovered among the Chicago high school boys who aspire to become heroes of the gridiron . . . . Medical inspectors of the Board of Education had been making physical examinations of ambitious punters to see whether their constitutions were rugged enough to withstand the vigorous tactics of football . After over a hundred applicants had been put through a series of tests the examiners were astonished to be confronted , who gave his age as 16 years and his weight at 218 pounds . In normal condition his chest measure is 41½ inches , and in expansion he stretches the tape to 44 inches . His height is 5 feet 6 inches . His flesh and muscles are as solid as bands of steel . The gripping machines did not register high enough to show his strength . . . . It is unnecessary to add that Graham was declared fit to stand any hardship known on the gridiron . " Despite his size , Graham also won honors as a hurdler while in high school . University of Michigan . After graduating from high school , Graham enrolled at the University of Michigan . He played at the guard and tackle positions for the Michigan Wolverines football from 1904 to 1907 . He was known by the nickname " Octy " due to his having a long reach like an octopus . After he scored three touchdowns in a 1905 game , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " wrote : " ' Octy ' Graham was allowed to carry the ball and he scored three touchdowns . Moreover he carried the ball repeatedly on sprints in which he broke away from the entire field for several yards . At other times he was down under punts like a shot out of a gun . The cheering for ' Octy ' was prolonged : ' Rah for Octy , Michigan ' s Eckersall ' " Graham also handled kicking duties for Michigan . As a senior in 1907 , he kicked two field goals for Michigan ' s only points in an 8 – 0 win over Vanderbilt . ( Field goals counted for four points under 1907 rules . ) After the victory over Vanderbilt , " The Washington Post " called Graham " a tenth of a ton Wolverine star " who " wins games for Michigan and saves his team from defeat . " " The New York Times " later called Graham " one of Michigan ' s greatest football stars of Yost ' s famous ' point a minute ' eleven . " Family and later years . Graham was married in October 1911 to Emma Lutilla Freaser at the La Salle Hotel ; they took their honeymoon trip to Cuba and Mexico . They had two children , Walter D . Graham , Jr . , and Virginia Graham . In his draft registration submitted in 1918 , Graham stated that he was a resident of Chicago and the President of the Mutual Cigar Co . Graham ' s first wife died in 1920 , and in April 1921 , Graham married Hazel Cady Chatterton of River Forest , Illinois . The couple announced their plans to live in Kenilworth . They had four children , Walter D . Graham , Jr . , William Graham , Virginia Graham , and Jeanne Graham . Graham lived in River Forest in his later years . After developing a brain tumor , he underwent surgery at Chicago ' s Wesley Memorial Hospital in late May 1927 . He showed signs of improvement in the days after the surgery , but he died at his home in River Forest less than two months later .