‘Spoke to My Grandma’: Brandon Graham Reflects on Emotional Moments Before His First Game After Unretiring

Apart from perhaps Jason Kelce, there might not be any ex-player who loves the Philadelphia Eagles more than Brandon Graham. He played all 15 years of his career in Philly before he announced his retirement back in March, just before his 37th birthday. In fact, he loved them so much that he came out of retirement just to help them out.

The Eagles have been having a rough time with depth on the defensive front to start the 2025 season. Because of that, reports started emerging that Graham could be a candidate to come out of retirement to supplement their edge rusher ranks. And that’s exactly what happened.

Graham returned to practice and train with the team a few weeks ago, but his first game of the 2025 campaign was the Monday nighter against the Green Bay Packers in Philly this past week. Graham said that while some things were different for him leading up to the game, some things stayed consistent. Like his tradition of chatting with his grandma on game day morning.

“During the day, I talk to the family, my grandma always call me. 8 o’clock that morning, every time. We on Central Time too, so she actually called me when it was 7. But it was cool, I always talk to her in the morning, and it’s cool that we’re back to that, even though we talk all the time. It was cool that at 8 o’clock, she called, she was ready, and she was excited that I was back.”

Graham went on to briefly describe how his pre-game rituals were slightly altered. He continued to do his individual weight room stuff, but also added a few drills alongside his old (and new) teammates.

“I listened to my music, did a couple drills with the group, it was cool. That’s a little different, because normally I just do a couple things with one of the weight room staff. I still did that, but this time around we was doing individual work together. … Now, being back, you just wanna take advantage of everything.”

Graham originally retired in March following his second Super Bowl title with the Eagles. He rode off into the sunset. But his love for the Eagles was so strong that their struggles at his specific position drew him back into the mix.

First, the Eagles lost Josh Sweat and Milton Williams in free agency. But that had been the case for months leading up to the season. It was Nolan Smith going on IR, Jalen Carter missing a few games due to a heel injury, and yet another defensive lineman, Azeez Ojulari, dealing with a knee injury.

Now they have Graham for support. Though the aging defender only played 10 defensive snaps and three special teams snaps in that 10-7 win over the Packers. He will surely figure more prominently in the rotation alongside Moro Ojomo, trade deadline addition Jaelan Phillips, Byron Young, and Jihaad Campbell moving forward.

Graham, Philly’s 2010 first-round pick, has racked up 76.5 sacks, 23 forced fumbles, one Pro Bowl, and one Second-Team All-Pro through his decade-and-a-half career in the City of Brotherly Love.