January 14, 2023 • 23 mins
Philadelphia Eagles' defensive end Brandon Graham talks to Mike Silver about his team capturing the #1 seed in the NFC, his personal transformation from draft "bust" to Super Bowl champion, being nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and how Nick Sirianni's rough first few press conferences brought him closer to the players on the Eagles. #volume #herd
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. All right, we're here on Open Mike. I'm
gonna do kind of a long intro here, so bear
with me. My guests is gonna have to to take this.
But I want to go back to Pro Bowl. Votes
come out or the selections come out. I'm kind of
(00:22):
looking at the list and I see the name Brandon Graham,
and I think I'm about to jumped out of my seat.
I was so excited because this dude has been a
great player for a long time, one of the best
dudes there is, and finally he was going to the
Pro Bowl. I the next year, week two, he tears
(00:43):
his achilles. I think it's your twelve. At that point,
I'm like, oh man, that's tough and Rusher, is it
gonna make it back? The dude just put down eleven
sacks for one of the greatest sacking defensive teams of
her and is trying to get back to the Super Bowl.
(01:04):
Brandon Graham, nobody could hold you down. Thank you for
joining us. Oh yeah, thank you man. You know, it's
been a great journey coming back from that achilles. Trying
to enjoy every day even when I was down, uh,
you know, just trying to make sure that for this moment,
waiting on this moment to come where you know, you
to come back season that I showed seen the light. Um,
(01:26):
even because I knew that I still had a year
with Philadelphia based off my guarantees, so I knew I
had one year to do it. And so man, I'm
just thankful. Uh, you know, definitely said my prayers, and
my prayers have been answered for sure. I have a
lot I want to get into about the Eagles, but
before I even go there, since I met you the
Pro Bowl, so they changed the Pro Bowl format. It's
(01:48):
not a game anymore. There's like dodgeball along drive competition,
water balloon throwing. How do you feel about the new
Pro Bowl? You know what? I like you? Man, I
like you. I like I really do. Uh. But you're
not gonna get as many people backing out as much
as you as you was because it don't matter if
you heard or not. Uh, you know you can still
(02:09):
do some of that stuff, and um, I know for me,
I won't. I mean, I just I'm glad that I
haven't been able to go only because of well I
would have wouldn't been able to go to twenty years.
But COVID but then, um, you know, we don't want
to go because we want to be in that super Bowl.
That's a great jumping off point. So I gotta ask
you you're coming back our fee injury and uh, you
(02:32):
know they made some moves in the off season and
went and got a J Brown among others. Um, there
was a little bit of hype about the Eagles, but
did you see this coming? A thirteen and one start,
the number one seed, a real super Bowl possibility? How
to get to the playoffs? Did you see this happening
back in the summer? You know what training camp I did?
(02:53):
I started to feel a little more. Uh. I knew
that we had some good stuff, but I had to
know in past because you look good at O t
A is everybody do. Everybody looked fast, fresh, everybody happy
to come back and show off their bodies, show that
they've been doing work. But then when you get them past,
it is a little different. You know, it's and then
it's the grind of every day. How do we practice?
(03:13):
Am I gonna have to get guys going? Uh? Do
they know how to practice? I mean, you gotta learn.
You gotta learn from what you see. The vets do
some of the younger guys coming in. I felt like,
you know, we just had a bunch of guys that
just that just jailed well together this year. And man,
that's something that's always a great start for your team.
And I knew that going back that we had that part.
(03:34):
But training camp was when I really was like, oh, man,
we got something special. We stay healthy, We're gonna be
all right, because the year before we didn't stay healthy
and we still made it to the playoffs. But man,
I'm telling you, if we stay healthy, we're gonna be
all right. And thirteen and one start, boy, I was, man,
still is still is a fun time. Uh. Time is
(03:56):
flying because of how much fun we having right now. Well,
you've been through quite a bit in your NFL career. Uh,
you know, didn't start out well early. I think you
called yourself a bus at one point. Uh they asked
you to play in the three four as a linebacker.
There was you know, there were trade rumors, possibilities of
(04:17):
you being released. Then it started rolling. Then you made
the biggest play in the history of the franchise. And
we talked about the Pro Bowl, we talked about the
Achilles um. How did you react this year when they
told you, hey, we got a different role in mind
for you, and by different we mean fewer plays. How
(04:40):
did you how did you process that? You know what
at first, I mean, like I always do, I just suggested,
was like okay, yeah, I mean I'm down for whatever
for the team. But when you actually had to live
it in the beginning, it was tough because it's like
moments where you know you can help the team and
it's like you're not out there and you gotta sit
back and you know, take your take a take a
(05:01):
take a step step back because of the other guys
that's in there that's really good with sweating highs and
you know, whenever, um, you know they need me, they
put me out there. But it was tough in the
beginning though. I had to keep talking to myself, keep
telling myself not, uh, don't worry, everything's gonna happen the
right way to when you get in, just look at
yourself as the knockout. You know, them bought them guys
(05:24):
jabbing jabbing and getting them ready and then you come
in with the knockout punch. And when once I started
thinking like that, it started really happening like that. And
so for me, man, that's when I stopped tripping, and
I wasn't really like you know, you know how I go.
You you had them feelings on the inside, and you
try to be the bigger person through them feelings. But
it was tough. It was tough at first, but as
(05:45):
the season kept going, I started getting used to it.
Then I started making more plays and I was just like, man,
chill out, like, you know, we got a really good team.
Enjoy this, uh. And then we started seeing that the
sacks started going up. We could all get double digits,
and we just started helping each other get there. And
it's it turned into some more because I had my
attitude right man. So I think it's just a credit
(06:06):
to just need trying to you know, talking about it
with other guys and letting them know how I really felt. Uh.
And then on top of that, making sure that our
channel channel debt and UH used it for my benefit
on the field. And so whenever I was feeling like that,
I just took it out on a person that I
had to go against the next time. Well in the
city that brought us Joe Fraser, Bernard Hopkins, so many
(06:29):
great boxers. The knockouts are coming fast and furious. You
guys have seventies sacks, the most of the NFL, the
first team in history to have four guys that double digits. Uh,
sack wise, Um, what's that intra? Uh? You know, defensive
live competition, Like do you guys have friendly you know competitions?
(06:53):
How does that all work? Oh? Yeah, we started off
like that in the beginning, having a little who's gonna
get the first sack? And me and Flip it's got
the first one, but Fletch wasn't in on the on
the festivities. So I end up winning that one because
we gotta have a sack. Uh. When we first started
Alliance game were saying, whoever get the first sack, you
get this and so we um, I ended up getting
(07:13):
that and it was cool, you know, and we haven't
made nothing crazy, but when we started seeing that, we
was really good and it was like, you know, we
could really do some things. Uh. It was just all
about helping each other running games together. Like you've seen
it really at work the Chicago game where Josh Sweat
and um um, Josh Weaton Hardgrave was running different games
(07:35):
and got each other both two sacks a piece, and
and uh, we knew that what'sen they needed Tin to
break his um? What's in that double digits? Uh, you
know Sack and uh they end up doing that for
each other. So that was cool, man, That's what That
just lets you know how together everybody is just trying
to see each other win on top of you know,
yourself winning two by being selfless. So you don't get
(07:58):
like a car or something. It's just it's it's a smaller. Yeah,
it's a small a small, a little fun fun wager.
You know how I go as nothing that's gonna make
or break anybody. I'm always curious with you because, um,
you know, one of my favorite seasons I've ever covered
was that seventeen season where you guys magically uh you know,
(08:19):
survived the injury to Carson Wentz. I was at that
game in l A and then, you know, I was
a pretty much all your games in the playoffs when
you guys just took it up announced with Nick Fols.
So now we're at the super Bowl and you know,
it looks like Tom Brady might be able to do
it one more time. I see you coming free off
the edge of my I just kind of got bigger
(08:41):
the press box, like could this happen and then bab
Strip sacked, confetti, victory party, all that, and so I
remember saying, probably for the first time many times that night,
you know, Brandon Graham will never buy a meal in
Philadelphia again. But have you bought a meal in Philadelphia?
You know what I have? But I still get people
(09:04):
even at the jobs that I mean, even at the
places I go eat. Ah, you're good man, And I always,
you know, gotta pay for something. I always tips, So
whatever that money, I was gonna pay our tip, tip
that person or whatever. But you know, it's just it's
been a great It's been fun. Man. That's the reason
why I'm living here now because of the love you know,
the fans have showed me over the years, even though
(09:26):
it didn't start off like this. But I tell the
young guys, it's not how you started, how you finish.
And you know you stayed the course, you stay, you
stay focused on what you know, what you believe. And
I believe I was gonna be uh one of these
uh good I was. I believe that I was a
great pick for the for the Eagles. Um on top
of you know, all the stuff that I was going through.
(09:46):
I still believe that I still had something that I
had to prove to make sure that, you know, I
let them know the day and waits to pick on me,
and so man, it was just the perseverance of just
talking it out when I was going through, growing through
things because it wasn't easy in the beginning, and then
just making sure I practice her even today, you know,
still carrying that chip on my shoulder, letting them know
(10:07):
that it don't matter like you know what what what
it is like, you know how I'm feeling. I'm just
trying to do everything I can for this team, and
I know y'all gonna need me, so I gotta make
sure I practice good just as much as I'm gonna
need jobs to make sure that we motivate each other,
because a man, it's like everybody's at home right now
except the ones that then persevered through the hardship of
(10:29):
the season. And now we're here in this moment and
there's no time to to turn down. Now it's time
to turn it up. That sounds like win and win.
By the way, you're in a restaurant, some grateful Eagles
fan is like, hey, man, we got you, and then
you give the money that you were gonna pay to
the waiter or waitress. Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. That's what
(10:51):
you gotta do, man. You gotta pay it forward. So
sometimes even when I'm in like a line, uh, you know,
I get some stuff started, I pay for the person
in the back and uh tell him to pass it on,
passing forward, you know, just a little fun stuff, man,
because it's it's always I'm always trying to serve, and
you know, I always trying to put a smile on
somebody face. Uh, and so little stuff like that definitely
goes a long way. And I'm just doing it just
(11:13):
to kind of see somebody, you know, smile because you
never know what people going through. Well, you did get
an honor earlier this year. That is incredible. You were
the nominee by the Eagles for the Walter Payton NFL
Man of the Year Award. And you have done so
much in the community for so long in Detroit and Philadelphia. Um,
and you know, I think what you just said underscores
(11:35):
what everyone knows about you, that you are trying to serve.
The Eagles kind of had a unique way of letting
you know you were the nomintee. Uh, how did that
all play out. What was that experience? Like, man, it
was just like a regular day. We was on our
way to walk through before we go to practice, and
they kept on, you know, come on, come on, uh,
you gotta you gotta come up, you know, out here
(11:57):
before you go to what's the name. It was just
like a regular day and I'm over. Were giving them
a hard time, like, man, let's wait till afterwards, let
me do this, let me I got all this other
stuff I'm trying to do real quick. And sure enough
I go out and boy, they pull up on me
with the science saying nomin need Man of the Year.
I say what. I couldn't believe it. It It wasn't even
on my radar, you know, because I thought I didn't
(12:19):
know how it went as far as who getting nominated.
I just will see guys getting nominated and then I'd
be like, man, uh, congratulations all that stuff, and I
thought that I ain't do enough to even get nominated.
I was like, boy, when you start reading some of
these people and what they're doing in the off seats,
I say, man, I need to step my game up.
But I mean I always go to a bunch of events,
(12:40):
not do a lot of stuff in the community already.
But uh, for the team to nominate me, man, is
if anything, they have made you know, another they made
me check off another box Uh that I wasn't even
didn't have on my list of things that the accomplice
in this league and doctors for that to be the
most prestigious ward, uh and this and this. I'm just
(13:00):
thankful to be a nominee even if I don't win it,
but I'm gonna give my best shot to try to
win it. Well, there's a really cool video on the
Eagles website, I think or it's out there where they
had a mocked press conference and in the press conference
that you walked in thinking it's a press conference and
there's all these people that you've helped and they shared
(13:21):
their stories. I mean, I was just such a must
have been such a cool mode. It is like it
just had me just like keep it together, be keep
it together. I mean, if anything, man, it just made me,
like I said, you want to serve some more, because man,
you just never know who you in moments. Uh, you know,
when you passed by people sometimes you know you're not
(13:42):
feeling like, oh man, I just want to go home.
I want to do this, and he's like, man, I'm
always thinking of that when I'm in that mode of like, no,
this is the time when you really need to get
your time, because right now it's something that's pushing you,
pulling you back in and maybe this is the reason
why I'm here is to you know, serve this person.
So I always try to catch myself when I'm in
that mode. And I remember being in that mode for
(14:05):
one of them, and then I was just like, you
know what forgetting it turned out to be even like
me helping him during a hard, hard time, and so
that just you know, just motivated me more. Man, just
to keep keep being me in and keep making those
decisions when I do feel like those moments, uh, you
know how you feel in the moments where you got
to make a decision and I'm I'm gonna try to
(14:26):
choose the right way most of the time. Well, you
talked about, you know, you're starting the NFL, and if
I recall in Michigan, didn't you kind of have a
slow start in Michigan to where you were you were
over three hundred pounds and at time I came in, man,
like what happened was I played in the U. S.
(14:48):
Army All American Game. And then in college in UH,
in Michigan, you can't go out of state to play
all They had a rule where you couldn't go out
of state to play All Star games or anything, UH
because they wanted you to play the one that was
in Michigan. Um, And so I planned on playing in
Michigan too, but UM, I end up going anyway to
(15:08):
the because I was like, man, who get to go
down the All American Bowl? Man, I'm going. So they
suspended me from all spring sports after that, so I
couldn't run track, I couldn't do a lot of stuff.
And then on top of that, I looked at it
like I had senior writers at the time too, So
I was just enjoying my senior year. Uh. Took care
of business in school. That was always one thing that
(15:28):
my mom always stayed on me about. So when I
was able to get a break, I took a break.
But it cost me. It cost me. It was a
fifty pound game break. That's the season I ever did, though,
because I would have never moved a defensive end and
probably would have never strips that Tom Brady, you know
what I'm saying. So but I definitely, uh know at
(15:49):
that time, man, Like I had to adjust when I
got to college, and once I got into that program
of doing everything in, my attitude of working hard every
day started paying off by the second year, your man,
and I ain't looked back since a lot of people
don't know this, but Brandon was recruited as a slot receiver. No,
I'm just kidd I hear you. So you moved to
(16:10):
defensive n you crush it in in the Big ten
and now it's draft day and the Eagles go up
and get you at thirteen overall, and then you suffer
through you know, injuries the first couple of years that really,
you know, hurt you. And then you came out and said,
after year two, I am a bust. Obviously that's not
(16:32):
a fun thing to say. What was going through your
mind at that point? Just tired of hearing people calling
me that? And so I just was like, you know what,
let me kill that noise by just calling myself that.
And then you know what else can they when else
can they do? How how low? How much lower can
they get? And so I just admitted to it, like
right now, I am bust. I ain't done nothing but
(16:53):
I know from there, I was like, yeah, they're gonna
eat them words, you know what I'm saying, and and
I'm gonna make sure I'll flip it. And I just
kept going. I had guys like Trent Cole had JP,
you know, just always used to stay on me saying like, man,
you better make sure that you're coming coming with it
every day and practice, uh because every day that you
get the fight back, that's gonna be in practice. And
(17:14):
so that's how I still carry that stuff to this day. Man,
Like today, I knew that, you know, it was a
little it was a little pressure from man. We gotta
make sure we right, make sure we fix a lot
of the issues that we had these last couple of games.
Get back to the basics. And today I had that
chip on my shoulder. Let coach no, I'm with him.
Let them know that you know we we like I said,
(17:34):
we gotta turn up even more of what we do,
uh than to turn down. Because there's a lot of
people wish that they could uh go back and do
it over again, because I'm sure they had a bunch
of regret as a team, and I don't want that
for us. I want us to make sure that we
just come with it every day. Uh, it's only one day.
Don't worry about tomorrow, worry about today, take care of
(17:55):
the day. Go hard because I feel good about what
I put in. So when I look at the film tomorrow,
I'm proud of it. And then I'm gonna put smoke
good film out or what I do in the practice tomorrow.
So yeah, man, I'm just trying to get them to
just have that attitude of just it don't matter what
other people talking about or what they're doing. It's about
what we're doing and making sure that you straight when
(18:15):
I need you in the moment, and you stuff that
we've been over. It's like this, uh second nature to
you now because we've done it so much and you
and you enjoy doing it because you know it's only
gonna help you when that moment come when you gotta
do it, uh in the game. So that's what I've
been just trying to echo all week for the For
the guys. You're a Detroit guy. I feel like you say,
(18:37):
I have a bust that's kind of like the seed
at eight bio whatever that goes and wraps and says
all the things about himself. He choke in. He choked. Yeah,
you know that's the way. That's the hardest thing to do, man,
is to accept some stuff that's real at that time.
And I think when I did that, everything took off
from me. After that, man, it was like what else
could hell? What else could happen? So just gonna be
(18:59):
you and that's how I kind of took it, And
that's what that's what happened. Nick Serrianti, your current coach
came in after Duck Peters to the very popular coach
would want a super Bowl? Was like oh um. Early on, Sirianni,
like some of us on the outside were worried because
he had some rough press conferences where we were like,
(19:19):
oh man, I don't know, were you guys worried at
all on the inside when he was doing like the
rock paper scissors stuff. No, I thought he just brought
it a unique young way trying to connect with the team.
People took it how they took it. But I'm glad
he killed that narrative by by just winning, because winning
solved it all. And they didn't care if he talked
(19:40):
about them flowers or what they had a little a
little flower mass and all that stuff. People people was
killing him, even he was killing himself, you know, talking
about it with the team, you know, we all was
laughing because he was just like, man, I couldn't breathe
the first press conference and I just was talking and
I just didn't know where I was doing certain stuff. It. Man,
(20:00):
I'm just happy that, um, you know, he's more comfortable
in this role. I'm happy now how everything played out
for him in his second year. Uh, similar to the
Doug season. Like when Dog first came, it was like,
you know, I don't think we made the playoffs the
first year Doug came, but he ended up making the playoffs.
We made a run, and I think that kind of
eased everybody to say, Okay, we can build off that
(20:21):
Jalen is the guy and not coming into this year,
how we did some great things by picking up some
great picks. On top of us having that feeling of
knowing we lost in the first round last year, but
you know, we we we made that run and when
we put our mind to it, we could definitely get back,
if not better. And I think that that's the guys.
(20:41):
The guys took that to heart what happened last year.
Even myself being on the sideline seeing that being down
in Tampa and we lost that game when we could
have easily won that game. Uh, not even easily, but
just you know what I mean, like, uh, we get
we could have gave ourselves but even better shot to
win that game, but we we learned from it. And man,
I'm just happy to be in that position again, other
(21:02):
than you know, we got the first round Bible, being
in the postseason to try to go win another championship.
When when the coach says that, like when a coach
gets clowned in the video that comes out and says
to you guys, yeah, man, I just couldn't breathe. That's
gotta make you love it more, right, Yeah, because I
know that feeling. Man, when I first got on radio,
(21:22):
I didn't realize like how fast pace and how live
everything was because I'm so used to pre recording so
I can kind of start over again, all on, All right,
cut that, y'all, let let's start over. Let's do this
over again. But when you on that radio, well, I
got to talking and I couldn't breathe, and I was
just like WHOA because I was so nervous, And man,
I know exactly if I was to be a head coach.
(21:44):
It would be the same thing of a team. It's like,
what the heck did I just do? Where am I
going with this? Like? Because I know for him, man, uh,
it was a great accomplishment to finally be a head
coach coming from being a position coach, and for some
to trust you, uh to to run their team based
off their interviews. It's all I mean, you know, it's
(22:06):
I know, it was a great feeling for him. So
to have that that feeling, um, you know, a nervousness, Uh,
it definitely connected us even more we all have because
I still have that nervousness when we first go out
and trying to see how they come in today, and
it's like, okay, soon as that as soon as you
get your first hit, okay bad, I'm ready, I'm ready
to go. And that was this first hit, first press
(22:26):
the conference, who finally got it out of the way,
and it's got better after that. I love, well you
have come so far because you just did an incredible
podcast right now, no two overs, perfect answers, and uh,
it's always great to talk to you. Man. I'm really
excited to watch you uh on this journey and I
(22:48):
think maybe I'll see you in the NFC Championship game again.
Let's go, let's go. We just got a one game
at a time. Man, enjoyed this week off. Um, no pressure,
just just making about us and you know, just bringing
best when it when it comes to whoever we play,
just make sure we carry out the game plan and
that's it. That's all you can really actual. All right, Well,
(23:09):
I've been covering that rock Party story. I know you're
trying to add that, but it'll be fun to watch.
They're a really good team. You know. We are too,
you know. So it's just about like when when it
comes down how small the margin is of air, you
gotta make sure that we we we come out on
the positive side of that, you know, and take the
ball away and make sure that we don't give it away. Awesome. Well,
(23:31):
I think I'll be seeing you in a couple of weeks.
I appreciate you and thanks for spending the time. Oh yeah,
thank you all.
The volume. All right, we're here on Open Mike. I'm
gonna do kind of a long intro here, so bear
with me. My guests is gonna have to to take this.
But I want to go back to Pro Bowl. Votes
come out or the selections come out. I'm kind of
(00:22):
looking at the list and I see the name Brandon Graham,
and I think I'm about to jumped out of my seat.
I was so excited because this dude has been a
great player for a long time, one of the best
dudes there is, and finally he was going to the
Pro Bowl. I the next year, week two, he tears
(00:43):
his achilles. I think it's your twelve. At that point,
I'm like, oh man, that's tough and Rusher, is it
gonna make it back? The dude just put down eleven
sacks for one of the greatest sacking defensive teams of
her and is trying to get back to the Super Bowl.
(01:04):
Brandon Graham, nobody could hold you down. Thank you for
joining us. Oh yeah, thank you man. You know, it's
been a great journey coming back from that achilles. Trying
to enjoy every day even when I was down, uh,
you know, just trying to make sure that for this moment,
waiting on this moment to come where you know, you
to come back season that I showed seen the light. Um,
(01:26):
even because I knew that I still had a year
with Philadelphia based off my guarantees, so I knew I
had one year to do it. And so man, I'm
just thankful. Uh, you know, definitely said my prayers, and
my prayers have been answered for sure. I have a
lot I want to get into about the Eagles, but
before I even go there, since I met you the
Pro Bowl, so they changed the Pro Bowl format. It's
(01:48):
not a game anymore. There's like dodgeball along drive competition,
water balloon throwing. How do you feel about the new
Pro Bowl? You know what? I like you? Man, I
like you. I like I really do. Uh. But you're
not gonna get as many people backing out as much
as you as you was because it don't matter if
you heard or not. Uh, you know you can still
(02:09):
do some of that stuff, and um, I know for me,
I won't. I mean, I just I'm glad that I
haven't been able to go only because of well I
would have wouldn't been able to go to twenty years.
But COVID but then, um, you know, we don't want
to go because we want to be in that super Bowl.
That's a great jumping off point. So I gotta ask
you you're coming back our fee injury and uh, you
(02:32):
know they made some moves in the off season and
went and got a J Brown among others. Um, there
was a little bit of hype about the Eagles, but
did you see this coming? A thirteen and one start,
the number one seed, a real super Bowl possibility? How
to get to the playoffs? Did you see this happening
back in the summer? You know what training camp I did?
(02:53):
I started to feel a little more. Uh. I knew
that we had some good stuff, but I had to
know in past because you look good at O t
A is everybody do. Everybody looked fast, fresh, everybody happy
to come back and show off their bodies, show that
they've been doing work. But then when you get them past,
it is a little different. You know, it's and then
it's the grind of every day. How do we practice?
(03:13):
Am I gonna have to get guys going? Uh? Do
they know how to practice? I mean, you gotta learn.
You gotta learn from what you see. The vets do
some of the younger guys coming in. I felt like,
you know, we just had a bunch of guys that
just that just jailed well together this year. And man,
that's something that's always a great start for your team.
And I knew that going back that we had that part.
(03:34):
But training camp was when I really was like, oh, man,
we got something special. We stay healthy, We're gonna be
all right, because the year before we didn't stay healthy
and we still made it to the playoffs. But man,
I'm telling you, if we stay healthy, we're gonna be
all right. And thirteen and one start, boy, I was, man,
still is still is a fun time. Uh. Time is
(03:56):
flying because of how much fun we having right now. Well,
you've been through quite a bit in your NFL career. Uh,
you know, didn't start out well early. I think you
called yourself a bus at one point. Uh they asked
you to play in the three four as a linebacker.
There was you know, there were trade rumors, possibilities of
(04:17):
you being released. Then it started rolling. Then you made
the biggest play in the history of the franchise. And
we talked about the Pro Bowl, we talked about the
Achilles um. How did you react this year when they
told you, hey, we got a different role in mind
for you, and by different we mean fewer plays. How
(04:40):
did you how did you process that? You know what
at first, I mean, like I always do, I just suggested,
was like okay, yeah, I mean I'm down for whatever
for the team. But when you actually had to live
it in the beginning, it was tough because it's like
moments where you know you can help the team and
it's like you're not out there and you gotta sit
back and you know, take your take a take a
(05:01):
take a step step back because of the other guys
that's in there that's really good with sweating highs and
you know, whenever, um, you know they need me, they
put me out there. But it was tough in the
beginning though. I had to keep talking to myself, keep
telling myself not, uh, don't worry, everything's gonna happen the
right way to when you get in, just look at
yourself as the knockout. You know, them bought them guys
(05:24):
jabbing jabbing and getting them ready and then you come
in with the knockout punch. And when once I started
thinking like that, it started really happening like that. And
so for me, man, that's when I stopped tripping, and
I wasn't really like you know, you know how I go.
You you had them feelings on the inside, and you
try to be the bigger person through them feelings. But
it was tough. It was tough at first, but as
(05:45):
the season kept going, I started getting used to it.
Then I started making more plays and I was just like, man,
chill out, like, you know, we got a really good team.
Enjoy this, uh. And then we started seeing that the
sacks started going up. We could all get double digits,
and we just started helping each other get there. And
it's it turned into some more because I had my
attitude right man. So I think it's just a credit
(06:06):
to just need trying to you know, talking about it
with other guys and letting them know how I really felt. Uh.
And then on top of that, making sure that our
channel channel debt and UH used it for my benefit
on the field. And so whenever I was feeling like that,
I just took it out on a person that I
had to go against the next time. Well in the
city that brought us Joe Fraser, Bernard Hopkins, so many
(06:29):
great boxers. The knockouts are coming fast and furious. You
guys have seventies sacks, the most of the NFL, the
first team in history to have four guys that double digits. Uh,
sack wise, Um, what's that intra? Uh? You know, defensive
live competition, Like do you guys have friendly you know competitions?
(06:53):
How does that all work? Oh? Yeah, we started off
like that in the beginning, having a little who's gonna
get the first sack? And me and Flip it's got
the first one, but Fletch wasn't in on the on
the festivities. So I end up winning that one because
we gotta have a sack. Uh. When we first started
Alliance game were saying, whoever get the first sack, you
get this and so we um, I ended up getting
(07:13):
that and it was cool, you know, and we haven't
made nothing crazy, but when we started seeing that, we
was really good and it was like, you know, we
could really do some things. Uh. It was just all
about helping each other running games together. Like you've seen
it really at work the Chicago game where Josh Sweat
and um um, Josh Weaton Hardgrave was running different games
(07:35):
and got each other both two sacks a piece, and
and uh, we knew that what'sen they needed Tin to
break his um? What's in that double digits? Uh, you
know Sack and uh they end up doing that for
each other. So that was cool, man, That's what That
just lets you know how together everybody is just trying
to see each other win on top of you know,
yourself winning two by being selfless. So you don't get
(07:58):
like a car or something. It's just it's it's a smaller. Yeah,
it's a small a small, a little fun fun wager.
You know how I go as nothing that's gonna make
or break anybody. I'm always curious with you because, um,
you know, one of my favorite seasons I've ever covered
was that seventeen season where you guys magically uh you know,
(08:19):
survived the injury to Carson Wentz. I was at that
game in l A and then, you know, I was
a pretty much all your games in the playoffs when
you guys just took it up announced with Nick Fols.
So now we're at the super Bowl and you know,
it looks like Tom Brady might be able to do
it one more time. I see you coming free off
the edge of my I just kind of got bigger
(08:41):
the press box, like could this happen and then bab
Strip sacked, confetti, victory party, all that, and so I
remember saying, probably for the first time many times that night,
you know, Brandon Graham will never buy a meal in
Philadelphia again. But have you bought a meal in Philadelphia?
You know what I have? But I still get people
(09:04):
even at the jobs that I mean, even at the
places I go eat. Ah, you're good man, And I always,
you know, gotta pay for something. I always tips, So
whatever that money, I was gonna pay our tip, tip
that person or whatever. But you know, it's just it's
been a great It's been fun. Man. That's the reason
why I'm living here now because of the love you know,
the fans have showed me over the years, even though
(09:26):
it didn't start off like this. But I tell the
young guys, it's not how you started, how you finish.
And you know you stayed the course, you stay, you
stay focused on what you know, what you believe. And
I believe I was gonna be uh one of these
uh good I was. I believe that I was a
great pick for the for the Eagles. Um on top
of you know, all the stuff that I was going through.
(09:46):
I still believe that I still had something that I
had to prove to make sure that, you know, I
let them know the day and waits to pick on me,
and so man, it was just the perseverance of just
talking it out when I was going through, growing through
things because it wasn't easy in the beginning, and then
just making sure I practice her even today, you know,
still carrying that chip on my shoulder, letting them know
(10:07):
that it don't matter like you know what what what
it is like, you know how I'm feeling. I'm just
trying to do everything I can for this team, and
I know y'all gonna need me, so I gotta make
sure I practice good just as much as I'm gonna
need jobs to make sure that we motivate each other,
because a man, it's like everybody's at home right now
except the ones that then persevered through the hardship of
(10:29):
the season. And now we're here in this moment and
there's no time to to turn down. Now it's time
to turn it up. That sounds like win and win.
By the way, you're in a restaurant, some grateful Eagles
fan is like, hey, man, we got you, and then
you give the money that you were gonna pay to
the waiter or waitress. Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. That's what
(10:51):
you gotta do, man. You gotta pay it forward. So
sometimes even when I'm in like a line, uh, you know,
I get some stuff started, I pay for the person
in the back and uh tell him to pass it on,
passing forward, you know, just a little fun stuff, man,
because it's it's always I'm always trying to serve, and
you know, I always trying to put a smile on
somebody face. Uh, and so little stuff like that definitely
goes a long way. And I'm just doing it just
(11:13):
to kind of see somebody, you know, smile because you
never know what people going through. Well, you did get
an honor earlier this year. That is incredible. You were
the nominee by the Eagles for the Walter Payton NFL
Man of the Year Award. And you have done so
much in the community for so long in Detroit and Philadelphia. Um,
and you know, I think what you just said underscores
(11:35):
what everyone knows about you, that you are trying to serve.
The Eagles kind of had a unique way of letting
you know you were the nomintee. Uh, how did that
all play out. What was that experience? Like, man, it
was just like a regular day. We was on our
way to walk through before we go to practice, and
they kept on, you know, come on, come on, uh,
you gotta you gotta come up, you know, out here
(11:57):
before you go to what's the name. It was just
like a regular day and I'm over. Were giving them
a hard time, like, man, let's wait till afterwards, let
me do this, let me I got all this other
stuff I'm trying to do real quick. And sure enough
I go out and boy, they pull up on me
with the science saying nomin need Man of the Year.
I say what. I couldn't believe it. It It wasn't even
on my radar, you know, because I thought I didn't
(12:19):
know how it went as far as who getting nominated.
I just will see guys getting nominated and then I'd
be like, man, uh, congratulations all that stuff, and I
thought that I ain't do enough to even get nominated.
I was like, boy, when you start reading some of
these people and what they're doing in the off seats,
I say, man, I need to step my game up.
But I mean I always go to a bunch of events,
(12:40):
not do a lot of stuff in the community already.
But uh, for the team to nominate me, man, is
if anything, they have made you know, another they made
me check off another box Uh that I wasn't even
didn't have on my list of things that the accomplice
in this league and doctors for that to be the
most prestigious ward, uh and this and this. I'm just
(13:00):
thankful to be a nominee even if I don't win it,
but I'm gonna give my best shot to try to
win it. Well, there's a really cool video on the
Eagles website, I think or it's out there where they
had a mocked press conference and in the press conference
that you walked in thinking it's a press conference and
there's all these people that you've helped and they shared
(13:21):
their stories. I mean, I was just such a must
have been such a cool mode. It is like it
just had me just like keep it together, be keep
it together. I mean, if anything, man, it just made me,
like I said, you want to serve some more, because man,
you just never know who you in moments. Uh, you know,
when you passed by people sometimes you know you're not
(13:42):
feeling like, oh man, I just want to go home.
I want to do this, and he's like, man, I'm
always thinking of that when I'm in that mode of like, no,
this is the time when you really need to get
your time, because right now it's something that's pushing you,
pulling you back in and maybe this is the reason
why I'm here is to you know, serve this person.
So I always try to catch myself when I'm in
that mode. And I remember being in that mode for
(14:05):
one of them, and then I was just like, you
know what forgetting it turned out to be even like
me helping him during a hard, hard time, and so
that just you know, just motivated me more. Man, just
to keep keep being me in and keep making those
decisions when I do feel like those moments, uh, you
know how you feel in the moments where you got
to make a decision and I'm I'm gonna try to
(14:26):
choose the right way most of the time. Well, you
talked about, you know, you're starting the NFL, and if
I recall in Michigan, didn't you kind of have a
slow start in Michigan to where you were you were
over three hundred pounds and at time I came in, man,
like what happened was I played in the U. S.
(14:48):
Army All American Game. And then in college in UH,
in Michigan, you can't go out of state to play
all They had a rule where you couldn't go out
of state to play All Star games or anything, UH
because they wanted you to play the one that was
in Michigan. Um, And so I planned on playing in
Michigan too, but UM, I end up going anyway to
(15:08):
the because I was like, man, who get to go
down the All American Bowl? Man, I'm going. So they
suspended me from all spring sports after that, so I
couldn't run track, I couldn't do a lot of stuff.
And then on top of that, I looked at it
like I had senior writers at the time too, So
I was just enjoying my senior year. Uh. Took care
of business in school. That was always one thing that
(15:28):
my mom always stayed on me about. So when I
was able to get a break, I took a break.
But it cost me. It cost me. It was a
fifty pound game break. That's the season I ever did, though,
because I would have never moved a defensive end and
probably would have never strips that Tom Brady, you know
what I'm saying. So but I definitely, uh know at
(15:49):
that time, man, Like I had to adjust when I
got to college, and once I got into that program
of doing everything in, my attitude of working hard every
day started paying off by the second year, your man,
and I ain't looked back since a lot of people
don't know this, but Brandon was recruited as a slot receiver. No,
I'm just kidd I hear you. So you moved to
(16:10):
defensive n you crush it in in the Big ten
and now it's draft day and the Eagles go up
and get you at thirteen overall, and then you suffer
through you know, injuries the first couple of years that really,
you know, hurt you. And then you came out and said,
after year two, I am a bust. Obviously that's not
(16:32):
a fun thing to say. What was going through your
mind at that point? Just tired of hearing people calling
me that? And so I just was like, you know what,
let me kill that noise by just calling myself that.
And then you know what else can they when else
can they do? How how low? How much lower can
they get? And so I just admitted to it, like
right now, I am bust. I ain't done nothing but
(16:53):
I know from there, I was like, yeah, they're gonna
eat them words, you know what I'm saying, and and
I'm gonna make sure I'll flip it. And I just
kept going. I had guys like Trent Cole had JP,
you know, just always used to stay on me saying like, man,
you better make sure that you're coming coming with it
every day and practice, uh because every day that you
get the fight back, that's gonna be in practice. And
(17:14):
so that's how I still carry that stuff to this day. Man,
Like today, I knew that, you know, it was a
little it was a little pressure from man. We gotta
make sure we right, make sure we fix a lot
of the issues that we had these last couple of games.
Get back to the basics. And today I had that
chip on my shoulder. Let coach no, I'm with him.
Let them know that you know we we like I said,
(17:34):
we gotta turn up even more of what we do,
uh than to turn down. Because there's a lot of
people wish that they could uh go back and do
it over again, because I'm sure they had a bunch
of regret as a team, and I don't want that
for us. I want us to make sure that we
just come with it every day. Uh, it's only one day.
Don't worry about tomorrow, worry about today, take care of
(17:55):
the day. Go hard because I feel good about what
I put in. So when I look at the film tomorrow,
I'm proud of it. And then I'm gonna put smoke
good film out or what I do in the practice tomorrow.
So yeah, man, I'm just trying to get them to
just have that attitude of just it don't matter what
other people talking about or what they're doing. It's about
what we're doing and making sure that you straight when
(18:15):
I need you in the moment, and you stuff that
we've been over. It's like this, uh second nature to
you now because we've done it so much and you
and you enjoy doing it because you know it's only
gonna help you when that moment come when you gotta
do it, uh in the game. So that's what I've
been just trying to echo all week for the For
the guys. You're a Detroit guy. I feel like you say,
(18:37):
I have a bust that's kind of like the seed
at eight bio whatever that goes and wraps and says
all the things about himself. He choke in. He choked. Yeah,
you know that's the way. That's the hardest thing to do, man,
is to accept some stuff that's real at that time.
And I think when I did that, everything took off
from me. After that, man, it was like what else
could hell? What else could happen? So just gonna be
(18:59):
you and that's how I kind of took it, And
that's what that's what happened. Nick Serrianti, your current coach
came in after Duck Peters to the very popular coach
would want a super Bowl? Was like oh um. Early on, Sirianni,
like some of us on the outside were worried because
he had some rough press conferences where we were like,
(19:19):
oh man, I don't know, were you guys worried at
all on the inside when he was doing like the
rock paper scissors stuff. No, I thought he just brought
it a unique young way trying to connect with the team.
People took it how they took it. But I'm glad
he killed that narrative by by just winning, because winning
solved it all. And they didn't care if he talked
(19:40):
about them flowers or what they had a little a
little flower mass and all that stuff. People people was
killing him, even he was killing himself, you know, talking
about it with the team, you know, we all was
laughing because he was just like, man, I couldn't breathe
the first press conference and I just was talking and
I just didn't know where I was doing certain stuff. It. Man,
(20:00):
I'm just happy that, um, you know, he's more comfortable
in this role. I'm happy now how everything played out
for him in his second year. Uh, similar to the
Doug season. Like when Dog first came, it was like,
you know, I don't think we made the playoffs the
first year Doug came, but he ended up making the playoffs.
We made a run, and I think that kind of
eased everybody to say, Okay, we can build off that
(20:21):
Jalen is the guy and not coming into this year,
how we did some great things by picking up some
great picks. On top of us having that feeling of
knowing we lost in the first round last year, but
you know, we we we made that run and when
we put our mind to it, we could definitely get back,
if not better. And I think that that's the guys.
(20:41):
The guys took that to heart what happened last year.
Even myself being on the sideline seeing that being down
in Tampa and we lost that game when we could
have easily won that game. Uh, not even easily, but
just you know what I mean, like, uh, we get
we could have gave ourselves but even better shot to
win that game, but we we learned from it. And man,
I'm just happy to be in that position again, other
(21:02):
than you know, we got the first round Bible, being
in the postseason to try to go win another championship.
When when the coach says that, like when a coach
gets clowned in the video that comes out and says
to you guys, yeah, man, I just couldn't breathe. That's
gotta make you love it more, right, Yeah, because I
know that feeling. Man, when I first got on radio,
(21:22):
I didn't realize like how fast pace and how live
everything was because I'm so used to pre recording so
I can kind of start over again, all on, All right,
cut that, y'all, let let's start over. Let's do this
over again. But when you on that radio, well, I
got to talking and I couldn't breathe, and I was
just like WHOA because I was so nervous, And man,
I know exactly if I was to be a head coach.
(21:44):
It would be the same thing of a team. It's like,
what the heck did I just do? Where am I
going with this? Like? Because I know for him, man, uh,
it was a great accomplishment to finally be a head
coach coming from being a position coach, and for some
to trust you, uh to to run their team based
off their interviews. It's all I mean, you know, it's
(22:06):
I know, it was a great feeling for him. So
to have that that feeling, um, you know, a nervousness, Uh,
it definitely connected us even more we all have because
I still have that nervousness when we first go out
and trying to see how they come in today, and
it's like, okay, soon as that as soon as you
get your first hit, okay bad, I'm ready, I'm ready
to go. And that was this first hit, first press
(22:26):
the conference, who finally got it out of the way,
and it's got better after that. I love, well you
have come so far because you just did an incredible
podcast right now, no two overs, perfect answers, and uh,
it's always great to talk to you. Man. I'm really
excited to watch you uh on this journey and I
(22:48):
think maybe I'll see you in the NFC Championship game again.
Let's go, let's go. We just got a one game
at a time. Man, enjoyed this week off. Um, no pressure,
just just making about us and you know, just bringing
best when it when it comes to whoever we play,
just make sure we carry out the game plan and
that's it. That's all you can really actual. All right, Well,
(23:09):
I've been covering that rock Party story. I know you're
trying to add that, but it'll be fun to watch.
They're a really good team. You know. We are too,
you know. So it's just about like when when it
comes down how small the margin is of air, you
gotta make sure that we we we come out on
the positive side of that, you know, and take the
ball away and make sure that we don't give it away. Awesome. Well,
(23:31):
I think I'll be seeing you in a couple of weeks.
I appreciate you and thanks for spending the time. Oh yeah,
thank you all.
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