Super Bowl 2025: Brandon Graham, Eagles Super Bowl LII hero, plans to return from injury

NEW ORLEANS — There aren't many Philadelphia Eagles left on the roster from their only Super Bowl championship team.

Nick Foles officially retired a few months ago. Jason Kelce retired a few months before that. Zach Ertz is still in the NFL with the Washington Commanders; the Eagles saw him in the NFC championship game. Other Super Bowl LII heroes like Alshon Jeffery, Corey Clement, Fletcher Cox and Vinny Curry are out of football by now. The Eagles title was seven years ago, after all.

Brandon Graham is one of the four championship Eagles still on the team. Eagles fans will always smile at the mention of Graham's name. In that Super Bowl win against the New England Patriots, with the Eagles leading 38-33 just before the two-minute warning, Graham had a strip-sack of Tom Brady. The Eagles recovered the fumble. It was the only time they sacked Brady all day. That helped eat up some clock, led to three more points, and Philadelphia hung on to a 41-33 win.

It didn't look like Graham would be a part of this season's Super Bowl. He tore his triceps against the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 24, told the media he was done for the season and wondered if that was it for his 15-year career. But the longer the Eagles went in the playoffs, it gave Graham a chance to come back for Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles opened his practice window, and before Sunday will make a decision on if he can play.

"That's my goal," Graham said. "We're going to go through the week, but that's the goal, for me to play."

It's never bad to add a franchise Super Bowl legend right before playing in another Super Bowl.

Brandon Graham fights back

When you're 36 years old and tear your triceps, it's a long shot to come back and play ever again, much less in the same season.

But Graham said the medical staff indicated it wasn't out of the question if the Eagles made a deep playoff run.

"When I got hurt, I was seeing if it was a possibility. And talking to some people, it was a possibility," Graham said. "I went hard in rehab and did everything I could."

As it turned out, the Eagles had to make the Super Bowl for Graham to have a chance to play again this season. And they did.

The Eagles haven't activated Graham off of injured reserve yet. As Graham said, the Eagles will see how he does this week. But all the signs are positive.

"I'm feeling good. Honestly, I'm feeling real good," Graham said. "Excited to play in this game, just enjoying the moment."

Not that Graham needed another big moment in his long career, but a return after a major injury would be a pretty impressive story.

Graham has his Super Bowl moment

Graham has played 206 regular-season games and 11 more playoff games, all with the Eagles. And his entire career will be remembered most for one moment.

Graham proudly still has a memento from it.

"I got the Brady ball. I got the ball I stripped from him," Graham said.

The Eagles defense had trouble slowing down Brady and the Patriots but Graham made the one play the defense needed to get over the hump and get the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

Brady was in Philadelphia for a December game for his broadcasting duties with Fox, and was on the field when Graham snuck up behind him to surprise him. The two joked around about the time they met in the Patriots backfield in Super Bowl LII.

"Couldn't have happened to a better guy," Brady said about Graham, via John Clark at NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Graham talked about making the most of this Super Bowl appearance. Nobody knows what will happen after Sunday, whether Graham will play again next season. Nobody even knows for sure if he'll play in Super Bowl LIX. But he is clearly enjoying the entire experience.

"For me to come back when I got hurt and thought I was out for the year, to be able to practice in the Super Bowl, to have a chance to win one before I go, I'm excited," Graham said. "It's special in my eyes.

"Enjoy the moment. It's Year 15. I've been here before, but enjoy the whole thing. That's what I'm doing."