Brandon Graham, Super man | Sports Daily Newsletter

At 34, Brandon Graham is returning to the Super Bowl. In his first one, he created a memory that will live forever in the hearts of Eagles fans.

Graham does not mince words about that moment, when he knocked the ball out of Tom Brady’s grasp and turned the tide of Super Bowl LII in the Eagles’ favor on Feb. 4, 2018.

“Definitely a life-changer, man,” Graham said. “It changed my life. Can’t nobody take that one away, going against Brady in the Super Bowl, somebody who you know can put daggers in people’s hearts, especially on that last drive.

“It changed my trajectory of how people viewed me,” Graham added. “It’s just gotten better ever since.”

In some ways, so has Graham. Last season was a nightmare when the veteran defensive end suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon. But this season? He finished the regular season with a career-high 11 sacks while playing just 43% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps.

Given that impressive rebound, Graham has said several times that he wants to play one or two more years. There are, after all, more memories to make, starting with Super Bowl LVII against the Chiefs.

— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

When Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes face off on Feb. 12, it will mark the first time two Black quarterbacks have started in a Super Bowl. Doug Williams was the first, winning a Super Bowl with Washington in January 1988.

Williams applauded the two starting QBs but said the NFL has room for more progress. “You look at it this season, there were 11 [Black] starting quarterbacks in the National Football League,” Williams said. “I think that’s progress in a way, but we got a long ways to go, it ain’t progress enough because you got these quarterbacks but you don’t have the Black coaches.”

Hurts would join elite quarterback company with a win against the Chiefs. Does the name Joe Montana ring a bell?

The Inquirer caught up with Nick Foles, who was at City Hall to testify in a medical negligence lawsuit involving a former teammate’s doctors. The MVP of Super Bowl LII kept his advice for these Eagles simple: “Just go do your part and you’re going to be fine.”

Remember Nick Sirianni’s awkward first press conference here? His odd reference to a flower as a motivational tool? Turns out they were among several teachable moments about the Eagles for us all, Mike Sielski writes.

The Eagles have opened the practice window for punter Arryn Siposs, who has been out since Dec. 11 with an ankle injury.

The Chiefs and Eagles have several connections, of course, starting with coach Andy Reid. Ed Barkowitz shares 25 facts about Reid’s team.

Who knew? Rasheed Wallace, Philadelphia basketball great, is rooting for the other guys on Super Bowl Sunday.

Donna Kelce, the mother of Jason and Travis, has something in common with Stacie Nola, who watched her sons square off in the NL Championship Series.

Next: The Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. (Fox29).

76ers center Joel Embiid was selected as an All-Star on Thursday when the Eastern Conference reserves were announced on TNT’s Inside the NBA. But teammate James Harden was not, ending a streak of 10 straight All-Star Game appearances. Before the announcement, Harden believed he had earned the distinction: “That means you’re one of the best players in the league. I’m not going to sit up here and say I should be an All-Star and make a case. Numbers show it. Our seed shows it.”

Next: The Sixers visit the San Antonio Spurs at 8 p.m. Friday (NBCSP).

The decision on whether Andrew Painter breaks camp with the Phillies will be multilayered and go beyond his spring training ERA relative to Bailey Falter. There will be workload considerations and debate over how aggressively to push a young pitcher. Because a homegrown, minimum-salaried ace is akin to a winning Powerball ticket, even for a team with a $250 million payroll. Could Painter win games for the Phillies this year? Probably. Is he their most valuable asset over the next six years? Definitely, more than even Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, or Trea Turner. It will be paramount, then, to balance Painter’s potential short-term impact with looking out for his long-term interests.

The Union announced Thursday that they had signed Matt Real to a contract extension. The team has transformed into one of the movers and shakers of the league. Forbes did a recent valuation of all the teams in MLS, and while the Union weren’t at the very top, the team is much closer to that end of the spectrum than before. Jonathan Tannenwald covers all that and more.

Freshman guard Justin Moore sank a jump shot with 3.5 seconds left as Drexel knocked off College of Charleston, 70-69, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Amari Williams collected 19 points and 12 rebounds for the winners.

After a loss to Marquette on Wednesday, the Villanova men are looking at long odds to make the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova beat Marquette on the women’s side Wednesday, which came during the celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

We asked you: Is this it for Tom Brady’s playing days? Among your responses:

I keep hoping Jerry Jones wants the GOAT on his team and trades Dak to TB for TB even up! — Dave S.

I was certainly thinking that this time was for sure, but having just finished reading Mr. Hayes’ morning contribution I would say for now not sure. Marcus lists a number of things that might tempt him and being such a competitive person who seems to always welcome a challenge, it seems that should any of these situations arise he might just go for it. And of course if he did, Fox would most likely allow it and welcome him back again when done. I really appreciated Marcus’ recall of all the things we did not like about Mr. Brady, especially his refusal to shake hands with Nick Foles at the conclusion of our first ever SB win. — Everett S.

We’ll never really know until it happens, but I believe he means it this time. After watching him decline and lose to the Cowboys in the playoffs, it is past time for him to retire. He was never my favorite player, but I can respect his talent and what he brought to the game. After winning the Super Bowl with the Bucs, he should have retired. Always great to go out on top. — Kathy T.

It’s over. The PTSD from the Eagles’ epic beat-down of him in 2018 finally kicked in this year. — Tom O.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from EJ Smith, Josh Tolentino, Mike Sielski, Ed Barkowitz, Alex Coffey, Mike Jensen, Devin Jackson, Abraham Gutman, Oona Goodin-Smith, Jonathan Tannenwald, Keith Pompey, Gustav Elvin, Scott Lauber, Isabella DiAmore, Matt Ryan, Colin Beazley, and Meghann Morhardt.