Brandon Graham has some advice for first-year Philadelphia Phillies player Nick Castellanos, who is facing tremendous pressure from the public after an altercation with NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury.
"Man, just go talk to somebody in private about what it is you're probably going through," the 34-year-old All-Pro defensive end said on Monday's 94WIP Morning Show when asked about the Castellanos situation. "Because I know it's tough, it's an up and down city. One minute you hated, one minute you're loved. I know, I've been on both sides of it. You just gotta persevere through it all, you gotta fight every game. Since they talkin' stuff today, I'm happy I got another game next week.
"You gotta flip it, you gotta flip your mindset and that was more helpful from a guy like T Cole [Trent Cole] and those guys in private just telling me, 'Hey man, make sure you always make sure you keep it professional.' As hard as that is sometimes because your emotions get the best of you in situations and I think in this situation for him, his emotions got the best of him and he probably know that he was stinking it up and people can pull that out of you, especially when you hit a nerve."
Graham, who is entering his 13th season with the Eagles, struggled mightily early in his career after being the franchise's 13th overall pick in 2010. BG fought through the adversity, becoming a second-team All-Pro selection in 2016, a Pro Bowler in 2020 and of course a Super Bowl champion in 2018.
Castellanos, 30, signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Phillies in March coming off of a career-year in 2021 where he hit .309 with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs with the Reds, earning his first All-Star team selection.
Castellanos is off to a brutal start as a Phillie, however, hitting just .245 with eight homers and 98 strikeouts in 94 games.
After going 0-4 with a key strikeout in Saturday's loss to the Cubs, Castellanos was booed by the Philly fans. Salisbury asked him after the game if he heard the boos and Castellanos called it a "stupid question," resulting in a relatively heated exchange between the two.
As for Graham, he is coming off of a long-time without football, as he tore his Achilles in Week 2 of last season and is fired up for his return to the gridiron, as the Eagles get ready to begin training camp on Tuesday.
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