Eagles' Brandon Graham explains his decision to come out of retirement

By Dave Zangaro • Published October 21, 2025

As Brandon Graham announced his return to the NFL on Tuesday morning, he admitted he never really wanted to retire. The storybook ending was just undeniable.

But on Tuesday morning on his Unblocked podcast, Graham admitted he "really didn’t want to retire in the beginning.”

"It felt so right at the time. It did,” Graham said on his podcast. "It felt too good to pass up. But I was still like, ‘Hey, I don’t care about all that.’ It was like I don’t want to mess up this storybook ending. But then reality set in.”

Graham announced his retirement in March at a press conference flanked by two Lombardi Trophies. He got a chance to go out on top after a franchise-record 15 seasons. 

But Graham was never really done with football and said he would have returned for a 16th season if the Eagles wanted that in the first place. He definitely wasn’t going to play anywhere else.

Now Graham, 37, is officially back on the Eagles’ roster for the rest of the 2025 season. He didn’t rule out playing this Sunday against the Giants (it’s a kelly green game at the Linc, by the way) but said he’ll be at the NovaCare Complex throughout the bye week and will be fully back in Week 10 in Green Bay.

"While I still got that stinger, like Coach Vic (Fangio) would say,” Graham said, "it’s like, man, I’m still trying to sting them a little bit.”

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman actually reached out to Graham at the beginning of the season when the Eagles were looking for a veteran to round out their edge rusher rotation. Even though Graham wasn’t fully ready to retire in March, he decided to stick with retirement at that time, and the Eagles signed 33-year-old veteran Za’Darius Smith. They even put Smith in Graham’s old locker stall.

But Graham explained that if another opportunity came about, he would be ready to return. And then last week, Smith abruptly retired and left vacant that veteran spot in the rotation and the locker Graham held at the complex for the last 15 years.

"I understood both sides of it, man,” Graham said. "Year 15, there’s no better way to go out. They was probably thinking the same thing. But then reality set in for both of us. Another opportunity came. That first one I was like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna stick with it.’ And then I was like, ‘Who am I fooling?’ If it come again though, baby, we gonna get it.”

While Graham has been in the building plenty since his retirement, he was at just one practice during training camp and felt that hunger to play when he watched the Eagles practice against the Browns in August.

Even though last year was supposed to be his 15th and final NFL season, Graham was a big part of the Eagles’ edge rusher rotation before tearing his triceps in Week 12 out in Los Angeles. He did return for Super Bowl LIX but re-tore his triceps in New Orleans.

Over the last month or so, Graham has been working out hard to get his body ready for this possible return.

"I put myself through some stuff already,” Graham said. "I’m excited with where I am and I feel like I’m springy, I’m bouncy. I feel like myself. I feel good. I can’t wait to go out there and be like, ‘Lane (Johnson), what’s good?! You thought I was finished?!’ That’s where I’m at, man. I just can’t wait for that first initial jog out. I’m going to mess with Jordan (Mailata) first and then I’m gonna come see Lane. Then I’m gonna go get the ones on the inside. Everybody gonna get it.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/brandon-graham-explains-decision-come-out-retirement/691041/

4 hours ago, time2rock said:

Eagles' Brandon Graham explains his decision to come out of retirement

By Dave Zangaro • Published October 21, 2025

As Brandon Graham announced his return to the NFL on Tuesday morning, he admitted he never really wanted to retire. The storybook ending was just undeniable.

But on Tuesday morning on his Unblocked podcast, Graham admitted he "really didn’t want to retire in the beginning.”

"It felt so right at the time. It did,” Graham said on his podcast. "It felt too good to pass up. But I was still like, ‘Hey, I don’t care about all that.’ It was like I don’t want to mess up this storybook ending. But then reality set in.”

Graham announced his retirement in March at a press conference flanked by two Lombardi Trophies. He got a chance to go out on top after a franchise-record 15 seasons. 

But Graham was never really done with football and said he would have returned for a 16th season if the Eagles wanted that in the first place. He definitely wasn’t going to play anywhere else.

Now Graham, 37, is officially back on the Eagles’ roster for the rest of the 2025 season. He didn’t rule out playing this Sunday against the Giants (it’s a kelly green game at the Linc, by the way) but said he’ll be at the NovaCare Complex throughout the bye week and will be fully back in Week 10 in Green Bay.

"While I still got that stinger, like Coach Vic (Fangio) would say,” Graham said, "it’s like, man, I’m still trying to sting them a little bit.”

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman actually reached out to Graham at the beginning of the season when the Eagles were looking for a veteran to round out their edge rusher rotation. Even though Graham wasn’t fully ready to retire in March, he decided to stick with retirement at that time, and the Eagles signed 33-year-old veteran Za’Darius Smith. They even put Smith in Graham’s old locker stall.

But Graham explained that if another opportunity came about, he would be ready to return. And then last week, Smith abruptly retired and left vacant that veteran spot in the rotation and the locker Graham held at the complex for the last 15 years.

"I understood both sides of it, man,” Graham said. "Year 15, there’s no better way to go out. They was probably thinking the same thing. But then reality set in for both of us. Another opportunity came. That first one I was like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna stick with it.’ And then I was like, ‘Who am I fooling?’ If it come again though, baby, we gonna get it.”

While Graham has been in the building plenty since his retirement, he was at just one practice during training camp and felt that hunger to play when he watched the Eagles practice against the Browns in August.

Even though last year was supposed to be his 15th and final NFL season, Graham was a big part of the Eagles’ edge rusher rotation before tearing his triceps in Week 12 out in Los Angeles. He did return for Super Bowl LIX but re-tore his triceps in New Orleans.

Over the last month or so, Graham has been working out hard to get his body ready for this possible return.

"I put myself through some stuff already,” Graham said. "I’m excited with where I am and I feel like I’m springy, I’m bouncy. I feel like myself. I feel good. I can’t wait to go out there and be like, ‘Lane (Johnson), what’s good?! You thought I was finished?!’ That’s where I’m at, man. I just can’t wait for that first initial jog out. I’m going to mess with Jordan (Mailata) first and then I’m gonna come see Lane. Then I’m gonna go get the ones on the inside. Everybody gonna get it.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/brandon-graham-explains-decision-come-out-retirement/691041/

Those last two sentences cracked me up!! That's soooooo BG. 😀

It’s going to be really interesting to see how far away from football shape he is. I mean it looks like he’s kept himself active and in the gym but there’s got to be a huge jump up to football shape?