PHILADELPHIA — The auditorium at the Eagles’ practice facility in South Philadelphia was about to open early Tuesday afternoon for a news conference with Vic Fangio, but the moment belonged to one of the defensive coordinator’s former players.
Standing just outside was Brandon Graham, who had announced his retirement 2 1/2 months earlier in that same auditorium. His exit from the Eagles became official when the paper work was filed earlier this week, but the two-time Super Bowl champion who played 15 seasons with the team has made it clear he intends to still be around.
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Just as he had on his retirement day, Graham shook the hand and hugged each and every reporter as they headed into the auditorium.
There have also been rumblings that Graham has plans for some sort of media career and he certainly has made his fair share of appearances on 94 WIP radio since announcing his retirement. He even had an entire day dedicated to him.
Asked to provide a question for the upcoming Fangio news conference, Graham was quick with an answer: “I want to know how much Nick Sirianni is making,” Graham said.
That information has remained a secret. In fact, Sirianni declined to even share how many years his “multi-year” extension is for shortly after signing it.
Anyway, it’s pretty clear that, like Jason Kelce last season, Graham doesn’t intend on becoming a stranger at the NovaCare Complex during his first year of retirement. If anything, he will likely be around even more than Kelce because he doesn’t have as many side gigs as the former All-Pro center.
Graham is still a voice that active Eagles rely on, too.
“I still talk to him on the phone every day,” Eagles third-year edge rusher Nolan Smith said Tuesday after the team’s practice. “When I get up and come in here for treatment I just call him. He’s on daddy duties right now, so I’m one of the guys that just calls and says, ‘What’s up B,’ and he just talks to me about some stuff.”
Smith has a lot in common with Graham and it goes beyond just being a fellow edge rusher. Smith, like Graham, is rehabilitating from a torn triceps injury that required surgery after the Super Bowl.
Graham, after making an accelerated comeback from a late November torn triceps injury in order to play in the Super Bowl, suffered the same injury in the team’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Smith, meanwhile, suffered his torn left triceps injury late in the first half and kept playing. It appeared to happen on the same play that Cooper DeJean returned a Patrick Mahomes interception for a touchdown that will be forever remembered by Eagles fans.
“The rehab is good,” Smith said. “I’m in a great spot. I feel great. I’m still using my (right) arm and still pressing. Hopefully I’ll be striking next week. Everything is falling in line. Every thing happens for a reason. If I wasn’t in the Super Bowl I wouldn’t have torn my triceps, so I take that as a blessing. The football gods have a funny way of things. I always beg to get to the Super Bowl and what (happened when) I get there?”
Unintentionally, Graham passed the edge-rushing torch to Smith in many ways last season when the 15-year veteran went down against the Rams in Week 12. Up until that point in the season, Smith was averaging 27.2 snaps per game (fewer than Graham) and had 3 1/2 sacks.
In his final nine games, Smith averaged 39 snaps per game and contributed seven sacks, including four during the postseason. He also had 36 pressures in his final nine games after registering just 14 in his first 11 games. Josh Sweat and Jalyx Hunt also picked up their games after Graham’s injury, but it was Smith who took his game to an elite level.
“I just want to do it for him,” Smith told NJ Advance Media after Graham was injured against the Rams. “Keep going and keep doing things right for him. It’s time to work. We’ll come together as a (position) group. We’re going to keep pushing and do what we have to do.”
Smith said even before last year’s late-season emergence, it was Graham who allowed him to recover from a disappointing rookie season during which he rarely played.
“Man, I will say (his rookie season) was just a learning year and truly a testament to Brandon Graham,” Smith said. “You’re about to make me cry just because BG gave me so much. The outside world putting so much pressure on me because you’re a first-round pick and you need to do this and you need to do that.
“BG just told me, ‘Be you.’ And that’s what I have on my mirror with my goals: Be you. Nobody can make you be anything other than yourself. As long as you work and put in that dedication and that effort every day and that’s why I work so hard just because I just want to be me.”
Graham’s advice to Smith for 2025?
“Just stay hungry and stay humble and just grind,” Smith said. “He’s looking at it from the viewpoint of he’s done and just telling me to enjoy the journey and that’s one thing we said at Georgia every day. Just enjoy the journey. Be where your feet are and don’t take anything for granted and don’t look forward and don’t look behind.”
Smith said he won’t try to fill Graham’s shoes because the retired edge rusher is too much of a legend in the locker room and the entire city. Smith, however, does have grandiose goals inspired by Fangio’s past.
“The next step in my game is just be that pass rusher,” Smith said. “Be that pass rusher and also be that ultimate player. I talked to coach Vic and he always told me to play the game the right way and that’s what I always tell myself ... becuase I have to crush the run in order to rush the passer. so when you play the game the right way and don’t chase sacks ... and be a football player truly everything else will take care of itself.
“I don’t think he knows this, but coach Vic coached some of my favorite guys in the world. Watching Von Miller (who Fangio coached in Denver) and his defense made me want to be the person I am today. Just relentless.”
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Bob Brookover can be reached atrbrookover@njadvancemedia.com