Eagles

Jim Schwartz Tells a Great Brandon Graham Story

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 23rd, 2020 · 9:27 AM EST

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Brandon Graham is 32 years old and got his first Pro Bowl nod this year.

It’s a fun success story during an otherwise miserable Eagles season.

BG has seven sacks this season, 12 tackles for loss, 14 quarterback hits, and a couple of forced fumbles, which was good enough to see him honored among a defensive end group that also includes Myles Garrett, Joey Bosa, Frank Clark, Chase Young, and Cam Jordan. That’s a damn solid group.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz was happy for Graham, and said this about him at his weekly press conference:

“Man, there were some tears shed in the coaching staff rooms (Monday) night. Just a totally deserving guy. He’s had a long career and he’s been a very good player for a long time, but to get his first Pro Bowl nod, it sort of choked everybody up because we know what kind of guy — you guys know what kind of guy he is. I think the fans know what kind of guy he is. He’s persevered through some tough times early in his career. He’s battled some injuries. He’s an incredibly hard worker. He plays with a lot of spirit, all the things that you respect about a player, Brandon Graham personifies. So, for him to get that nod was big.”

Yeah that’s awesome. He’s an easy guy to cheer for. Good story, too, with the slow start and injury, to overcome that and rip off a career high sack total in 2017 and then strip Tom Brady to help the Eagles secure their first Super Bowl ever.

Schwartz was asked to share a BG story and offered this up:

“Probably my favorite Brandon Graham story was I coached him in the Senior Bowl when he was coming out of Michigan, and we sort of sat the D-line down and said, ‘Hey, this is the way the game is going to be played. Hey, it’s an All-Star Game. Nobody is interested in running the ball. They’re going to pass on every down, so we’re not playing the run, we’re pass rushing, and this is the way we’re going to do it,’ and those different things. He had an outstanding game and had a lot to do — I think at the time he was considered like maybe a second-round draft pick or something, and a lot based off of that game. People could see him rush and see a lot of the things that we use him in now. And he moved up significantly in the draft.

So anyway, the night before the game, as I was the head coach, I had a coaching staff meeting and I said, ‘All right, I’ve got $500 for whoever picks the game MVP, but I get first pick.’ And I picked Brandon Graham, so I didn’t have to pay out any money to anybody because he was MVP. But that’s probably my best story with him.

Also, I think what you can’t overlook with Brandon is he wasn’t an immediate success as a rookie. It’s a tough business in the NFL. There’s a lot of scrutiny. There’s scrutiny from the fans, there’s scrutiny from the media, there’s scrutiny from the locker room, scrutiny from the coaches. It’s tough to deal with. He never lost his faith. He never wavered, and he got past that and has gone on to have an outstanding career, and he has a lot left on his career. I’m really proud of him.”

Amen, Jim Schwartz. Great story. Graham had two sacks and a forced fumble in that Senior Bowl and the Eagles drafted him #13 overall.

Let’s end the story with another share of the video clip Graham’s wife posted on Instagram. I laugh out loud at the way she says ‘BG’ –

Here’s Brandon Graham’s family celebrating his first career Pro Bowl berth. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/sO3QJhFfW7

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 22, 2020