When the Philadelphia Eagles throw on the pads for training camp this month, the void of No. 55 will be massive. Brandon Graham won't suit up for the first time in a long time, as he called it a career following his second Super Bowl victory.
Still, Graham is very much in the mix. The veteran defensive end has been making his rounds to discuss Eagles football, adding more fuel to the team's Super Bowl defense.
While discussing the Eagles on 'Gallen of Questions,' Graham made it clear that he feels like the Eagles could seriously make their way back to the Super Bowl stage and do an encore.
"We've got to address things that pop up in the season," Graham explained. "That happened this year, and we addressed it, and we moved on. And we stayed focused on what the goal was, but you got to make sure they have the leaders in that room, which I know they do. Why it can't be them to do it again? That's how I feel."
Since Graham was on the Eagles' first Super Bowl-winning team back in 2017-2018, he learned that repeating as champions certainly doesn't come easy. The fear of having a Super Bowl hangover was real throughout the 2018 NFL season, and the Eagles found themselves squeezing out of the Wild Card round before losing in the Divisional Round.
When Graham recently addressed the state of the Eagles after they picked up their second Lombardi Trophy, he publicly offered advice to the team. Staying uncomfortable and tossing satisfaction aside was the gist of the message. It was something that mirrored Nick Sirianni's viral message at the start of spring sessions, which was something that Graham loved.
"The celebration is over," Nick Sirianni said. "Preparation is here. Last year, we talked a lot about handling adversity. Now it's different. You've got to handle success. That's a different animal. Treat praise like perfume. Sniff it. Don't drink it. It's poison."
Sirianni tends to utilize motivational tactics in an out-of-the-box way, leading to his motivational speeches to reach viral status frequently. This was one of those times, and Graham was a major fan.
"I already love how coach Sirianni is talking about perfume, where it smells great, but don't drink it, it's poison. And winning? We won the Super Bowl, it's great. But to think that you're going to do it again without working like you did, that's a poisonous mindset," Graham explained. "I love where he went with it, and I think they'll do good with that message."
With Graham out of the picture, the Eagles are down a key captain. For those who remain-and those who are stepping up-Graham has total confidence in them.
Related Articles
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.