Graves played college football for one year at Tennessee Wesleyan College,[REF] then two years at the University of Tennessee, where he was the team captain during his senior year in 1941 [REF].
The Philadelphia Eagles selected Graves in the ninth round (seventy-third pick overall) in the 1942 NFL Draft,[REF] and he played for the Eagles for three seasons, including the temporary 1943 merger of the Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers known as the "Steagles."[REF][REF]