PHILADELPHIA (AP/ KYW Newsradio) — After 15 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, including two that resulted in Super Bowl titles, star defensive end Brandon Graham is retiring.
The 36-year-old made the announcement during a Tuesday press conference.
Graham suffered a torn triceps in November 2024 and thought that would mark the final season of his career. However, he rallied and rejoined the Eagles for Super Bowl LIX, helping them earn their second title.
“I gave everything I had, everything I had in this,” Graham said. “I don’t have no regrets.”
He called the city a magical place where he became the player and the man he wanted to be.
Of course, his time in Philadelphia was not always filled with fanfare. He was labeled to bust three years into his career, but as he said, teammates, coaches, and his wife, we’re all behind him.
“Thank you for believing in me … you gave me the chance to become the player I always dreamed of being, more than that you helped shape me into the man I am today,” he said.
The former first-round draft pick out of Michigan in 2010, ends his career as the all-time leader in games played for the Eagles with 206, ranks third with 76 1/2 sacks, and has the most postseason sacks with 5 1/2.
Graham is also one of four players who participated in both of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl wins: following the 2017 season against New England and last month against Kansas City.
He returned from a torn triceps to play against the Chiefs. He got on the field for 13 snaps and made one tackle in the 40-22 win.
He had a much bigger impact in the Super Bowl win against the Patriots when Graham’s strip-sack of Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter thwarted a comeback attempt and helped deliver Philadelphia its first Lombardi Trophy.
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Graham’s career began under coach Andy Reid and continued under Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson, and Nick Sirianni as he was one the constants on the defensive line for a team built from the trenches.
He had only one season with double-digit sacks — 11 in 2022 when he helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl — but was a consistent producer of pressure throughout his career.
He made the Pro Bowl in 2020, was a second-team All-Pro in 2016 and was fourth in voting for AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2022 when he returned from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in 2021 to have his prolific season as a pass rusher.
For Carlos Delgado a worker at Mitchell & Ness, he’s excited to eventually bring Graham into their pantheon of Philadelphia sports legends.
“We got to give it a little window of two or three years before we can start making his jersey. We can’t wait to get his jersey in here,” said Delgado. “It’s going to be an exciting time, and hopefully we get one with a Super Bowl patch too. That would be special.”
Graham is the longest-tenured Philadelphia athlete to date and the longest-tenured Eagles player.