Saints legend Jimmy Graham helps smash world records with Arctic row
All-time great NFL tight end; licensed pilot; record-setting Arctic rower. These are all ways you can now describe Jimmy Graham, after he accomplished his latest feat earlier this week.
Graham joined three others on a team that rowed nonstop across the Arctic, sleeping in shifts, a journey that spanned 584 nautical miles. The journey clocked in at a little over 10 days, blowing away the previous record of 15 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes set in 2023.
Graham served as lead navigator. The rest of the team consisted of NAVY Seal Andrew Tropp serving as captain, former member of Team USA rowing and New Orleans native Hannah Huppi, and former Team USA and Team Switzerland rower John Huppi.
The group partnered with three charities to support in Covenant House, the Jimmy Graham Foundation and Laureus Sport for Good USA. The stated goal was to raise $1 million, or $1 per every meter rowed.
"Just wanted to remind everybody why we are out here and to go on the map and donate what you can for the kids," Graham said, via the Saints, during the third day of the expedition. "The reason why we are sitting here, suffering so much is to bring opportunities to others so we appreciate the support."
The trip was long in the making, with an 18-month training program leading up to the journey that embarked on July 4.
The completed row meant a number of firsts, according to the Saints official website, including the first mixed-gender team of four to row across the Arctic Ocean and the first all-American team to row across a polar ocean. Graham is also the first black person to row a polar ocean while Hannah Huppi is the first American woman do so.
Graham has yet to officially retire from the NFL, but he hasn't played since a return season with the Saints in 2023. The veteran saw little usage in his return, but he did catch four touchdowns and set off multiple roars at the Superdome in the process. Graham also took a year off in 2022 and has played 13 total seasons in the NFL for four teams -- 6 for the Saints -- while amassing 719 catches for 8,545 yards and 89 touchdowns.
