Tight end Graham Walker was at the Panthers rookie minicamp practice on Friday, May 9, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
As you could imagine, being close to Patrick Mahomes is a pretty humbling experience.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has spent the better part of a decade spinning his opponents into frustration. Leaving his own teammates in awe. Holding the sporting world’s attention in the palm of his hand as we all breathlessly wonder what he might do next.
But the Carolina Panthers hosted someone during rookie minicamp this past weekend who might know better than anyone what it’s like to be close to Mahomes and his magic.
And that’s Mahomes’ half-brother, Graham Walker.
Carolina Panthers tight end Graham Walker runs downfield after catching a pass during the team’s rookie minicamp practice on Friday, May 9, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Walker, a tight end out of Rice, was among the 40-plus rookies invited to the Panthers facility for rookie minicamp Friday and Saturday. He was brought in as a tryout player but played alongside undrafted free agents and draft picks alike.
This was the second tryout in as many weeks for Walker, who also spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs the weekend before — both experiences he considered “very awesome.”
But if you didn’t already know it, you wouldn’t be able to discern who Walker was or who he was related to. The soft-spoken, friendly, 6-foot-3, 227-pound playmaker doesn’t carry himself that way at all — it’s something he’s heard before.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Really? You’re Patrick Mahomes’ brother?’” Walker told The Charlotte Observer in an interview. The 24-year-old smiled. “But at the end of the day, I’m Graham. They still treat me like a normal player. They’re not going to give me any reverence for that. I wouldn’t want any anyway.
“I’m happy to see how well my brother’s done in the NFL, and I continue to wish the best for him. Obviously, you hear that name thrown out a lot when you’re trying out for the Chiefs and things like that, but I just look at it as, ‘It’s really special to be a part of the family.’”
And not just any family, to be clear.
Because Mahomes, well —
“He’s not just someone,” Walker said with an acknowledging nod. “There’s a certain amount of humbleness you need to have. You know you’re never going to be the best player in your own family. But at the end of the day, I just try to be the best that I can be, and that’s all I can be.”
Getty Images/ Courtesy of Alyssa Fielder/Instagram
Getting to know Graham Walker
Walker shares a biological father in Pat Mahomes Sr., but was raised by his mother, Jassamyn Walker, and stepfather, Gerry Howatt, in Hinesburg, Vermont.
He was a two-sport athlete — a pass-first, guard-big, pre-2021 Ben Simmons-esque point guard back in high school — and a Dean’s List student who spent his first three years at Brown University.
At Brown, he was a wide receiver, where in three seasons he compiled 127 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns. He transferred to Rice ahead of the 2024 season — where he also transitioned from wide receiver to tight end — and finished with 24 receptions for 252 yards.
Walker said he prides himself on adaptability. And as someone who is trying to make an NFL roster or practice squad, that’s an immense virtue. You don’t need to tell that to head coach Dave Canales, who considers one’s special-teams value as much as one’s positional value when determining how to fill out the bottom of a roster.
Canales knows he might one day call on these tryout players. He had a message for them.
“It’s all about just getting to know each other,” Canales said. “Getting to know the staff and the personnel department. They may not make our 90-man roster right now, but things happen in camp. And we have a list of guys who have a little bit of familiarity to see how we do things, so when they come and show up to practice, they know what to expect at a minimum.
“And so it’s about exposure for these guys. About the football life. The more chances they can get in front of coaching staffs and all that, the better chances they have of getting opportunities to show everybody what they can do.”
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales walks around the field watching players run through stretching drills during the team’s rookie minicamp practice on Friday, May 9, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
‘I just try to enjoy every moment’
Walker isn’t alone in trying to break into the NFL with a sibling already in the league. He’s not even alone in this within the Panthers’ locker room.
Panthers rookie running back Trevor Etienne, a fourth-round draft pick, learned a lot from his brother Travis, who stars with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ositadinma Ekwonu, who tried out with the Panthers as well Friday and Saturday, is the twin brother of 2022 draft pick Ikem Ekwonu. (Not a sibling but in the same vein: Moose Muhammad III, son of Panthers legend Muhsin Muhammad, signed with Carolina as a UDFA last week.)
Walker said he’s received some advice from Mahomes as he’s prepared for his pro football career. He said the two have “talked a little bit as we got into the draft process and the working out,” adding that the three-time Super Bowl champion “was supportive and attentive” and “kept an eye on me, which is great, so I appreciate him doing that.”
And while he is remarkably proud of Mahomes, he knows that if he makes the NFL, it’s because of the belief a team like the Carolina Panthers has in him. It’d be because he was wringing out all the possibilities he had when he was a 4-year-old kid, dreaming to be a professional athlete.
“I just try to enjoy every moment, and the experience of it,” Walker said. “Take in catching the football, looking up and seeing the skyline, seeing the stadium in the background.”
That’s all new to Walker.
But what isn’t new? Having one of the best athletes in the world as a brother. It doesn’t define him, but that’s worth embracing, as he has his whole life.
The Charlotte Observer
Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned five APSE Top 10 distinctions, most recently in the Long Features category in 2024. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription