Brandon Graham’s positivity will be his lasting legacy as an Eagles all-timer

Brandon Graham had to mature into a man in Philadelphia — to last an unprecedented 15 seasons with the Eagles, to win two Super Bowls, and to become the husband and father he always wanted to be.

But his infectious personality, his positive attitude, and his ebullient smile were an intrinsic part of Graham before he arrived here in 2010. They were the traits that contributed most to his longevity, his triumphs, and what may end up his greatest legacy — that as the ideal teammate and coworker.

“Great character kid who has never had a bad day,” read one predraft scouting report before the Eagles selected Graham in the first round. “Always smiling and upbeat no matter how things are going. Sees the positive in everything every day.”

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When Graham took the stage to announce his retirement from football some 15 years later, there were some tears. He was saying goodbye to the thing that had defined him for most of his life, and had brought him to the pinnacle of the sport. Football saved him from the rough streets of Detroit and it made him into a Philly legend despite some rough early moments here.

But Graham wasn’t having a bad day. The auditorium at NovaCare Complex was full with family, friends, teammates, coaches, executives, business partners — and even media members — who couldn’t help but be affected by his positive energy over the last three-plus decades.

And a day that is often tinged with sadness (see: Jason Kelce’s retirement just a year ago) was mostly a celebration because of the man who sat between Lombardi Trophies and refused to wallow in no longer doing one of the things he loved doing the most.

“I gave everything I had, everything I had in this, and no regrets,” a briefly emotional Graham said on Tuesday. “That’s one thing I tell them young boys: ‘Don’t have no regrets.’”

Graham’s retirement came as no surprise, of course. He said before the season that this would be his last, but a torn triceps in November made him backtrack from that statement. It was thought to be season-ending.

But the Eagles made Super Bowl LIX and Graham made a miraculous return. And the blowout win over the Chiefs cemented that he could go out as few do — a champion and a two-timer, no less.

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When Graham walked into the auditorium, he dapped up every reporter before taking the stage. It was a slight nod to a ritual he had started at his first Eagles training camp at Lehigh University, when he would hug each of the reporters waiting outside the locker room following practice.

He was a unicorn — even for someone in his first years covering an NFL beat — a first-round pick who was as outgoing and affectionate as a golden retriever. The Eagles said as much after trading up to select the Michigan defensive end with the 13th overall pick, but there was skepticism.

They fell in love with him at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Graham had a great week of practice and shone in the game, but it was his interview, headed by newly minted general manager Howie Roseman, that increased his stock with the Eagles. Then-coach Andy Reid, who had final say, would soon be on board.

The Eagles’ early scouting write-ups raved about Graham’s character, NFL sources said. He had some minor transgressions — a disorderly conduct citation for a loud radio during high school that he forgot to pay at one point, a couple of positive tests for marijuana in college — but the reports were effusive in their praise of his makeup and mentality.

» READ MORE: Philly could have broken Brandon Graham. Instead, he retires with a smile.

Ryan Grigson, then the Eagles’ director of scouting, was first with boots on the ground in August 2009. “A people pleaser,” “Always a smile on face,” “Comes in, looks you in the eye and shakes your hand,” were just some of his takeaways. (Grigson later became Colts GM and is now a high-ranking executive with the Vikings.)

Area scouts Jon Spytek, who recently became the Raiders GM, and Johnathan Stigell, who now works for the New York Jets, were next into Ann Arbor, Mich. They came away with similar observations and reported that Graham had straightened up his act. (Spytek played at Michigan.)

“Everybody loves this kid and only has good things to say about him,” read one write-up.

Graham’s parents were divorced. He lived with his mother, Tasha Graham, but his father, Darrick Walton, remained a steady presence in Graham’s life. They coparented and were supportive of their son.

But Tasha Graham introduced Brandon to football to keep him from the potential negative influences of their neighborhood, among other reasons. And she instilled in him, he said, the positivity that has become his most endearing characteristic.

“She would always say, ‘Be different,’” Graham said. “I know we didn’t use to like to watch the news all the time because it was so much negative. So that always kind of stuck with me, where it’s like, you know why we turn that on? It ain’t nothing positive that’s gonna come from it.

“So for me as a kid, I just always tried to go against that easy, wrong thing to do, and that’s pout and be negative about something.”

Tasha Graham, who wore her son’s No. 55 Eagles jersey to his news conference and posed for pictures afterward with Walton, wouldn’t take credit for her son’s disposition. But she said there was some necessary nurturing.

“I can’t have a bad son living with me,” she said. “His kindergarten teacher told me, ‘You’re going to have problems with your son.’ I said, ‘You don’t know who his mama is.’”

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For all Graham’s positive traits, he was far from a finished product when he landed in Philly. He was just 22 and armed with a multimillion-dollar contract. Who could fault him for the blue Porsche he immediately bought — even if he later said it was a purchase he regretted — and drove to Lehigh?

But there were bad habits to break and maturing to take.

“I had to grow early, because, for one, I wouldn’t have a wife if I didn’t,” Graham said. “So you had to grow up fast. If you choose to take that next step in life where I had my wife, I want to be the best man I could be for her. And so I had to clean up some of my old stuff, my old habits and to grow up.”

Graham has known his wife, Carlyne, since high school and they married 11 years ago. She’s been there through all the ups and downs of his professional career. Few players last as long in one place without travails, but Graham could have left on several occasions.

Being labeled a first-round “bust” by some had a profound impact on his career, even if objective observers understood that a major knee injury, indifference from his position coach, Jim Washburn, and a scheme change under new coach Chip Kelly hindered his first four seasons in the NFL.

Graham seemed all but gone when he first reached free agency in 2015 and then again four years later in 2019, but Kelly and then Roseman brought him back. He was too talented — something not mentioned as much here, but shouldn’t be forgotten — but they also knew what he meant to the locker room.

» READ MORE: ‘Grace and tenacity’: Behind Brandon Graham’s longevity with the Eagles is Carlyne guiding the journey

He brought energy every day. He was a “consistent, constant ear,” for his teammates, as he described it. The number of proteges is too long to list. Two of the latest — outside linebackers Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt — attended Graham’s news conference.

“With them young boys, when they come talk to me, I really take it serious,” Graham said. “I really try to be there for them. I really try to just be that listening ear if they just want to talk and complain about something. But then, of course, I’m always in to fix it like, ‘So what you gonna do about it?’”

Graham wasn’t perfect. (Who is?) Being a people pleaser could get him in trouble in interviews. His comments on radio after a December game about Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown and their relationship led to a minor media controversy about discord between the quarterback and receiver.

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He tearfully apologized to his teammates and later had to walk back his words.

“The ups and downs of me saying some stuff, boy. And then next, you know, I gotta live through the week and hear this,” Graham said. “And it’s like, ‘Oh, I can’t watch TV this week because I said this.’

“I ain’t mean to say it like that, but that’s how they took it.”

But Graham’s heart was always in the right place. And few will remember a couple missteps in an otherwise exemplary career. What shouldn’t be forgotten beyond the 217 total games, the 82 sacks — including the most important defensive play in franchise history — the trash talking, and the ever-present cackle, was Graham’s legacy of showing grace.

The Eagles did all those years ago when they scouted the former Wolverine. They saw the overwhelming positive in Graham. He will forever be a part of the franchise and will work with the team in some capacity moving forward.

But Graham also has two children to raise — daughter Emerson and son Bryson, whom he wakes up early because “the men wake up first in our household,” he said.

Graham became a man in Philly right before our eyes. He said he’s even getting better at accepting the bad moments and has learned that sometimes it’s OK to wallow in them.

“I’d be so quick to move on, because some negative stuff happened,” Graham said. “I know it ain’t gonna be negative for long, but sometimes I try to stay in it a little bit just to say I felt it.

“But then I’m always trying to find that plan of action for the next thing.”

Whatever the next thing ends up being, Graham will bring to it what only he can.