Amid an offseason of defensive exodus, the Eagles have lost a franchise cornerstone.
His feathers have been graying for a while, and all Eagles fans knew this would be on the horizon with a title win, but Brandon Graham has hit the last stop on his farewell tour.
The career Eagle finished his 15-year tenure by registering the franchise record of games played in the midnight green. He also delivered the City of Brotherly Love their first two Lombardi Trophies, which sat beside him during his final press conference.
When the revered Howie Roseman was promoted to general manager of the Eagles in 2010, the team’s strong suit was an electric Michael Vick-led offense. The defense was more inconsistent, especially in the trenches. Trent Cole was coming off of a 12.5-sack season, and Roseman found the perfect prospect from Michigan to pair with him. While he would only get six starts in his rookie year, Graham was a player who appreciated the pressure.
In his retirement press conference, he talked about how getting labeled a bust in his first three years got to his head. He discussed how everyone needs a little help on their journey. In his early years, he relied heavily not only on his loving wife and high-school sweetheart, Carlyne, but also on his teammates Juqua Parker and Trent Cole.
“It’s not about how you start; it’s how you finish,” Graham said.
He got about the best finish you could ask for, but it didn’t come without immeasurable perseverance and positivity. Graham has always been a consistent leader in the locker room. In the latter years of his career and especially after the first Super Bowl win in 2017, he’s been the loudest voice, bar none. When he’s done with his postgame interview, you’ll hear a booming, “Locker room’s closed!” For the longest time, the locker room was Graham’s domain, but in this final year, he’s ready to hand over the reins.
Graham was no doubt as dominant a force on the field as he was in the locker room. After the 2017 Super Bowl, you can see his growing confidence reflected in his stats. In his six-year prime (2017-2022), Graham averaged a very respectable 8.5 sacks per year.
After tearing his Achilles and missing most of the 2021 season, he came back in 2022 and recorded a career-high 11 sacks en route to his second Super Bowl appearance. That one didn’t go as planned for Graham and the Eagles. He put it well in his press conference,
“That one [Super Bowl LVII] stung. But I didn’t run from that moment either.”
Just as he said, Graham stood his ground in the face of adversity. He endured the pain and shook the hand of every Kansas City Chief he could, making sure to pay homage to his first head coach, Andy Reid. When Graham struggled with his identity in his early career, his wife urged him to work in the community, and that’s exactly what he did. Graham not only earned the Eagles’ nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, but he won the hearts of Eagles fans forever.
When it comes to his next steps, Graham hasn’t made up his mind, but it seems clear he wants to remain at the NovaCare Complex in some capacity. He loves the intensity of the game and isn’t ready to truly walk away quite yet. According to Graham, a dinner with Eagles owner Jeff Lourie to discuss his future is in the works.
Brandon Graham is one of the most authentic and rowdy players the Eagles have ever had the pleasure of introducing to the NFL. Going from a so-called draft bust in year three to making the game-winning strip sack on Tom Brady in the Super Bowl by year seven, to leaving as an Eagles franchise legend in year 15, all means a lot to Graham. In the part of his speech dedicated to his wife, he told her,
“When the world only saw the player, you saw the man.”
No Eagles fan knows Brandon Graham nearly as well as his wife. But he was such an instrumental player, fearless leader, two-time Super Bowl Champion, loving father, and dedicated public steward. Philadelphia was lucky to love the man and for the man to love them right back.
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