After finishing as a First-Team All-American and the Big Ten MVP in 2009 at Michigan, Brandon Graham was selected 13th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2010 NFL Draft. However, he came along slowly in the NFL, not earning his first All-Pro or Pro Bowl recognition until 2016 — his seventh season. By that time, the coach who had drafted him all those years earlier, Andy Reid, was long gone from Philly.
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Reid had been fired after the 2012 season, when the Eagles hit an all-time low with a 4-12 record. But a shadow hung over nearly that entire season. Reid’s son, Garrett, tragically passed away from an accidental heroin overdose in October 2012. That loss brought Reid and Graham closer together.
Despite spending just three seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, Reid and Graham developed a deep, meaningful relationship — one that only grew stronger after Reid’s personal tragedy. That’s why there was no animosity between them when Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs beat Graham’s Eagles a couple of years ago in Super Bowl 57.
“Losing his son and all that man, being there for that, being there for him during that time. All that stuff man, that’s why I was so happy for him,” Graham said in the latest episode of New Heights.
“We lost, but that’s why I had to walk up on him and grab him at the end because I had to pay the respect… Because as much as I wanted to go to that locker room and not just dap people up, I had to eat it and be like, ‘You know what, be a professional,'” the former Eagle added.
Their relationship is all the more heartwarming when you consider how “intimidating” Reid was to Graham when the pair first met for their pre-draft meeting in 2010. They remained somewhat distant until Graham’s third year, when Reid started interacting more with the youngster.
Graham looks back now and is thankful that Reid, who was criticized for two decades for his inability to win the big one, is now a multi-time champion.
“I see him now with ya’ll and I love that he’s got a ring finally, well, a couple now, more than a couple. (Laughs) Before he got stopped at the door, went through some garbage at the end of his stuff. But the reward was so much greater.”
Luckily for Brandon Graham, he was able to get a little revenge on his old coach this year. After losing to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 in a thriller, Graham and the Eagles came back in Super Bowl 59 and laid one of the greatest ass-whoopings in Super Bowl history on his old coach’s team. And just in time, too.
Graham re-tore his triceps in that 40-22 win, which contributed to the 37-year-old’s decision to retire in March.
