Brandon Graham is a Philadelphia sports legend and will eventually go into the Eagles Hall Of Fame.
But it wasn't always headed that way for the team's 10th overall pick out of Michigan in 2010.
BG got off to a slow start and was eviscerated publicly, often being called a "bust" by fans and media. On Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show, the 33-year-old defensive end compared his situation to Ben Simmons' with the Sixers, offering some advice to the 25-year-old NBA all-star.
"At first I felt like him because it was tough," Graham told Angelo Cataldi about the start of his tenure in Philadelphia. "I was getting the same treatment he was getting. It's a little worse for him because I feel like basketball players, because you can see them and they visible and people can notice them a little more. When I wasn't playing so good people wanted me out of the city, they wanted me cut and all of that. It got to me and I didn't want to be here and I had to fight against that and I did. And the way you handle that is how you go out there and play and perform and so I focused in more on my craft and not worried about what other people had to say. That's when I felt like things started to change for me."
BG recorded just 13 tackles and 3.0 sacks in 13 games as a rookie before suffering a torn ACL, costing him most of his sophomore NFL season.
Simmons' path is a bit different. As the No. 1 overall pick, Simmons fought through a foot injury keeping him off of the court in his first NBA season, but he came out of the gate strong winning rookie of the year and reaching three All-Star teams in four seasons, and made two all-NBA defensive teams. However, Simmons has seemingly plateaued and his shooting woes, in the eyes of many, are costing the Sixers chances at deep title runs.
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And after a poor performance in the team's eliminating second-round playoff exit against the Hawks this past postseason, Simmons has publicly asked for a trade, turning the city of Philadelphia against him. However, months have gone by and there has not been a trade. With the season less than a week away now, Simmons has returned to the Sixers—at least for now—causing a somewhat awkward situation between him, his teammates, his coaches, and the fan base.
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Graham says the only thing Simmons can do is put his head down and go to work.
"It's hard to tell people how to feel, but how I feel about it for Ben is to just come in, put your head down and get working," Graham said. "If you're gonna be here, and hopefully you doing what you haven't been doing like you said—dunking when you supposed, even shooting threes, or whatever it is the fans want you to do. You do it and then you start getting better and doing things that you normally wouldn't do, then I think all will be forgiven. Just come in and work."
