surgeries, I’ve learned new ways of flying or gotten new licenses every off-season since.
What licenses do you have? Beyond my private pilot’s license, I’ve got my airplane single-engine sea and land, air- plane multi-engine land, tailwheel, rotor- craft, instrument (airplane and helicopter), and commercial helicopter licenses. I’ll probably add my sea and land commercial license, and after I retire from football I want to move into gliders. I’ve kept this under wraps until now, but I’m also a licensed skydiver.
During the season, I may only have time
to fly two or three days. But the rest of the year, I fly on average five days a week. I just love it; I love everything about flying.
Where does that passion and commitment come from? To be honest, I don’t just half-ass anything. Whether it’s football, or athletics, or flying, or investing my money, I want to do it to the very best of my ability and keep learn- ing more and more about it. I’m kinda’
weird that way, I guess. But even if I’m doing a charity event, I guarantee you … it’s going to be excellent.
Have your coaches or teams ever raised concerns about your flying? They don’t want to go there with me. One time when I was with the Saints, [Head Coach] Sean Payton and [General Manager] Mickey Loomis, before I signed my big deal, actually mentioned that they didn’t want me to be in a private plane if it wasn’t a jet with two engines and had a copilot. I told them I wouldn’t sign that contract and that there were 31 other teams that would give me the same contract AND let me fly.
No organization has ever mentioned it again.
How did you get involved in the Young Eagles?
A good friend of mine, Sean D. Tucker, flies airshows. He’s been doing it about 30 years solo. And this last year, he wanted to go to a two-plane operation. So I got involved with him with my aerobatic plane. He also got me involved with the Young Eagles pro- gram, and I quickly saw the benefits of their mission. [Editor’s note: Tucker fol- lowed Sullenberger as the Young Eagles’ chairman in 2013 and continues to serve as co-chair alongside Graham.]
You could champion any cause you wanted, or just spend all your time flying. Why get deeply involved in the Young Eagles? I’m a gutter kid. I came from the gutter. I always tell kids that, as a boy, I had my PhD—poor, hungry, and driven. And that’s a gift.
I’m thankful for every hardship I had. It made me grow up fast and [gave me drive]. The Young Eagles program gives me a chance to talk to kids—especially kids from tough backgrounds like mine who probably never dreamed they could do something like this—and get them thinking about aviation as a career. It gives me a chance to motivate them and encourage them not to be held back by whatever neg- ative circumstances they’ve had to deal with.
2020 Q2 ROTOR 21
ALL PHOTOS THE JIMMY GRAHAM FOUNDATION
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