Philly Front Office

There are going to be plenty of tributes to read about Brandon Graham and this will be just a drop in the bucket, but as he retires today, I want to pay my respects to his fantastic career and unforgettable journey into all of our hearts. From draft day to his final game, we don’t deserve someone as good as him, but I will be forever thankful he stayed with us.

None of us wanted him. None of us. We were obsessed with grabbing a safety and when that Eagle jumped on to the screen at #13, it was happening. We were going to draft Earl Thomas! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise now, we were absolutely LIVID when the pick was announced: The Eagles select Brandon Graham, defensive end out of Michigan. Thomas went next to Seattle. Things got worse from there. I am underselling it.

His career already started on the wrong foot but then he was hurt as a rookie and had microfracture surgery. That surgery doesn’t even exist anymore because the results are so bad! He only played in 3 games as a sophomore. He was a total bust. Meanwhile, Thomas was thriving in the Legion of Boom Seattle defense. Anytime you heard about the Seahawks, you couldn’t help but lament the Graham pick. He was a waste.

When 2014 rolled around, Thomas won a Super Bowl and Graham looked like he was out the door to join the Giants of all teams in free agency. Instead, he reupped and began his ascent into our pantheon of sports legends. He was an All-Pro in 2016 and had become a steady producer and leader of the defense. His mouth and energy never relented and he slowly became a fan favorite.

(Get the kleenex ready…take that how you will) His career culminated in one of the greatest real life hero’s journey moments of all time. In Super Bowl 52, when we desperately needed to stop the greatest QB of all time from going down the field and ripping our hearts out, BG extended just that little bit more to knock the ball out. It was just one play in a night of very little defense, but it is the defining moment of not only Graham’s career, but maybe in the history of the franchise. Without BG the Eagles never win their first Super Bowl.

It has been 7 years since that night on February 4, 2018, the day that changed everything for so many. Since then, he never slowed down. He missed the entire 2021 season but made it back to have a career year and another Super Bowl run in 2022.

It all seemed over this season when he tore his triceps and declared himself out for the year at 36 years old. It was probably the end of his career. Then, in the best epilogue possible and straight out of an impossible Disney script, BG got himself back for one final game, Super Bowl 59. He retore his triceps, giving everything for the team and city that didn’t want him but would never let him go. He would go out a champion.

As silly as it sounds, I am tearing up writing this. BG is one of the great human beings and athletes there are in this world. Always with a smile on his face and never without something to say. To use a cliched movie quote: He is not the hero we deserved, but definitely the hero we needed. I hope he stays with the team forever. Love you BG. Thank you.