Although mathematically still alive in the NFC East race, at 4-9-1 the Eagles this season are a disaster, in concert with the current downtrends in society and NFL media ratings in general.
At least the Birds and their fans get a few seconds of good news this week prior to a divisional showdown game against Dallas.
Here is Chris McPherson’s announcement with his own color commentary:
“Brandon Graham, the team’s longest-tenured player on defense and beloved Super Bowl hero, earned his first Pro Bowl nomination, the league announced on Monday evening. Graham is not alone as he’s joined by defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and center Jason Kelce.”
“This is that much more special to me because I know how much work was put in years before and even this year, knowing that my time is almost running out. It’s on me to go out and do it. We went out there and did it,” Graham said over the phone earlier this afternoon.
The 32-year-old Graham, in his 11th season with the Eagles, leads the team with seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss in 2020.
“I got a real level of appreciation for making it because I know it’s not easy. You know, being an alternate is cool, but you have to hope that people back out. For this one to be outright, in a year where there’s no alternates because there’s no game because of COVID, to get that call, I really appreciate this,” Graham said. “We worked our butts off this whole offseason and during the season. To get that call is going to boost me even more for the next two games to try to go make it happen and get into these playoffs.”
Graham said he was perusing the final Pro Bowl fan vote totals earlier on Monday morning. When he saw that Washington’s Chase Young led all NFC defensive ends, Graham admitted that he second-guessed himself and started to think that it wasn’t going to be his year. About 10 minutes later, the phone rang. It was Head Coach Doug Pederson. Graham thought something was wrong. Why was Coach Pederson reaching out?
“Hey, BG! Congrats on making the Pro Bowl!” Pederson said.
After hanging up, Graham called his wife, Carlyne, to tell her the good news. Graham said that she was screaming with joy.
“This was for us. There’s no Super Bowl strip-sack without her. She allows me to focus. She makes sure the kids are good, that I’m good,” Graham said. “All this hard work I put in this offseason, not missing a day, it’s all worth it for that one phone call right there.”
First-round pick. Longest-tenured player on defense. Super Bowl hero. Team captain. Now, Graham can add Pro Bowl defensive end to the résumé.
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