After Brandon Graham stood at the Championship Parade podium in Philadelphia with two Vince Lombardi Trophies next to him, the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive end decided to ride off into the sunset. He called it a career and left the league as a champion.
Since Graham won the Super Bowl with the Eagles the first time around, he experienced the highs and lows that came with winning. Knowing what he knows now, Graham issued some public advice for next year’s Eagles team as they look to defend their status as Super Bowl Champions.
“You got to have a cut off soon, make sure your workouts are still, you know you’re still working out and you’re not just taking meetings and taking all of these different things that take you away from ball because of what you did the year before,” Graham said on the 94WIP Afternoon Show in Philadelphia.
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“Because as soon as this year comes up, and we not going like we need to go, it’s going to be all that, ‘Super Bowl hangover.’”
Before the 2017 NFL season, the Eagles didn’t have any Super Bowls to show for in franchise history. After defeating the New England Patriots to win their first Super Bowl, Graham and the Eagles were riding a high heading into the 2018 NFL season.
There was a lot of talk about the Eagles turning into a dynasty after dethroning Tom Brady and the Patriots. Philadelphia believed they were next. Reality ended up hitting them hard as they experienced a true Super Bowl hangover.
In 2018, the Eagles achieved a record of 9-7. They made the playoffs as a Wild Card after coming second in the NFC East, and they took on a tough Chicago Bears team in the first round. The Eagles barely squeezed by the Bears, winning 16-15, thanks to the famous double-doink field goal miss by Chicago.
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Once the Eagles go to the Divisional Round to face the New Orleans Saints, they had a hot start in the first half, but ended up losing 20-14, getting eliminated in the playoffs. While the Eagles nearly punched their ticket to the NFC Championship for the second season in a row, the feeling was a lot different that time around. They didn’t rattle off the confidence of a dynasty. Their follow-up season, which resulted in a 9-7 performance, with a Wild Card loss, proved that major changes were needed.
Fast forward to 2025, and the Eagles are back on top. Graham won’t be in the building to help guide the team to a different destination this time around, but his message is important. Fortunately for the Eagles, they seem to hold a motivated mindset still, even after winning it all.
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