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Bengals' Graham thankful for the food
Kicker to provide 48 pounds of turkey and all the trimmings for teammates who don't have family in town.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Bengals kicker Shayne Graham (left) is having a Thanksgiving feast for his teammates, while right guard Bobbie Williams plans on spending time with family. 'Knowing me, I'm going to enjoy myself with a hearty helping of a little bit of everything,' Williams said. 'I'm going to be the taster, the sampler.'CINCINNATI — He ate 18 tacos in one sitting in college at Virginia Tech — and wasn't full.
He punished 14 chili dogs at a cookout — and was still hungry.
He calls ahead to Jeff Ruby's Carlo & Johnny restaurant so the chef can get a head start cooking his 16-ounce filet mignon — which isn't on the menu. Upon arrival, he devours the steak, two side dishes and dessert, then tops it off with another 9-ounce filet.
Shayne Graham, the third most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history, is the undisputed heavyweight champion eater on the Cincinnati Bengals roster — the club's version of "Kobayashi," Japan's world-renown competitive eating star.
"Metabolisms are just different speeds for different people," the 6-foot, 205-pound Graham said. "Just because someone is big doesn't mean their stomach is.
"I just have a very healthy appetite. I work out a lot. I'd probably look like a fitness model if I didn't eat so much. But I love food, and I can't stop eating. I'll just continue to keep a healthy build."
The Bengals' linemen bust Graham's chops all the time for how much he eats.
"He can sure put it away for a little guy," offensive guard Bobbie Williams said. "I don't know where it all goes."
Punter Kyle Larson and long snapper Brad St. Louis refuse to dine out with Graham for fear that they will lose the flip for the bill because Big Foot's bounty has the dinner tab running amok.
When the three amigos get together off the field, it's at Graham's luxury condo downtown. He's hostin', so he's buyin'.
And that's exactly what will happen today as Graham hosts more than a dozen teammates for a Thanksgiving feast.
"I had a dinner last year; probably had about 15 of the guys over who didn't have places to go with no family in town," Graham said. "So I'm doing it again this year. All the guys who don't have family here, or anywhere to go, are invited over.
"I've got a chef cooking 48 pounds of turkey, and all the trimmings, for all of us. So it'll be a good time. I'll probably have about three or four of those pounds myself."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253
or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com
Next game
Who: Baltimore Ravens (7-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (1-9-1)
When: 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 30
TV: WHIO-TV (CBS, Channel 7)
Radio: WLW-AM (700), WTUE-FM (104.7)
