Nobody ever beat Jake Long.

Long, the eventual first team All-American, No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft and Pro Bowl left tackle, an always impenetrable wall, stood tall against all challengers — literally and physically.

The 6-foot-7 behemoth served as the gatekeeper of the left side of Michigan's offensive line from 2004-2007.

Then-head coach Lloyd Carr would always pit a defensive lineman against an offensive lineman in one-on-one practice drills throughout the season.

Long was king, that is, until Brandon Graham lined up across from him.

The 6-foot-1 defensive end, two years younger than Long, unleashed his arsenal of moves against the tackle — speed rush, bull rush, whatever it took. Graham tested his will against Long’s to get to the quarterback.

“Once you got around him your confidence went up and you see him get mad for real,” Graham recalled. “Then it’s like, ‘C’mon I’m serious now,’ — like he wasn’t serious before.”

These epic struggles lasted just two years. Long eventually went on to play for the Miami Dolphins, while Graham was left to develop his game. A quarterback-hungry defensive end with an insatiable appetite, Graham’s work ethic and motor became legendary to those around the program.

“Brandon is a very humble guy,” Carr said. “Nobody beat Jake Long, very much. That was infrequent. Even if you could do it, once a month, you’d feel awfully good. So he did have, occasionally, some success against Jake, which told us all that he was the real deal.”

Graham ripped and clubbed his way through Michigan’s opponents throughout his career and was named co-winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football last season, given to the best player in the Big Ten as voted on by the coaches.

The 29.5 career sacks and 56 career tackles for loss speak for themselves. And all that production came in just 28 starts at defensive end.

On Thursday, the first round of the NFL Draft will take place in primetime and Graham has a good chance of being among the first 32 selected.

His sights are set on NFL quarterbacks now.

“What happens if you watch a game, and all of a sudden a guy appears to come from nowhere, and he did that I can’t tell you how many times,” Carr said. “All of a sudden, the quarterback is there, he’s looking down the field and bang! He’s on the ground. And somebody has hit him and knocked him (down). That’s what I remembered when I watched him.”

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If you saw Graham around Ann Arbor he'd come off unassuming, humble even, certainly not the monster that came to play on Saturday afternoons in the fall — no, not him, they couldn't be the same guy.

“He’s just all smiles every time,” fellow captain Zoltan Mesko said. “I didn’t know someone could have so many smiles in them throughout the day.”

Graham's impact was felt on the field during his junior and senior years as his teammates voted him Bo Schembechler Team MVP twice (the first time for a defensive player in school history).

As a captain this past season, Graham was the one who would get up in front of his teammates and deliver speeches after tough losses.

“They weren’t forced, and that’s what I liked about it,” Mesko said. “He really came from his heart. People paid attention because it’s generally what he meant, what he felt about that certain situation, so he spoke his mind and put it the right way.

“It’s easy to talk off adrenaline before a game, but who’s going to be the guy to pick the rest of the guys up after a game. He’s not about getting the attention because it’s before the game, ‘Look at me how hyped I am.’ He’s the guy who really loves to get up one more time than he’s fallen.”

Graham tried to instill in his teammates the same fire, love and passion for the game that he played with every snap. After his junior season in 2008, Graham could have made the jump to the NFL, but he decided to stay at Michigan to accomplish more.

“He was a guy who had humility,” Carr said. “You know when you make the transition from high school to college, if you have those qualities, it makes your adjustment a lot easier. Because (you) realize, ‘I’ve got a lot to learn, (but) I’m confident in my ability.’

"And the same thing applies when you leave college and (go) to the NFL.