Jason Kelce believes Brandon Graham had more left in the tank despite retirement

Brandon Graham officially retired from the National Football League after playing 15 years, all with the Philadlephia Eagles. One of his former teammates though, felt like Graham could have continued to play at a high level if he chose to stay. On the most recent episode of the New Heights podcast, former Philadelphia Eagle Jason Kelce discussed how he believed that Graham had more left in the tank.

"He retired on Tuesday, and, you know, the press conference was very emotional," Kelce said. "Listen, I've been talking to BG for a long time, and, obviously, he made it known before the season that it was going to be his final year. But he was playing so good before his triceps injury. I was like, man, is he going to do it again?"

" And he still could—like, he could definitely still play," the former Eagles center said. "He rushed it (return from injury). He wanted to play in the Super Bowl really bad and ended up re-tearing his tricep in the Super Bowl."

Kelce explained how that type of toughness was something typical of Graham throughout his career:

"It just tells you the type of competitor and person he is, and just what a pitbull he was for the Philadelphia Eagles for 15 years. Even though he announced before the season that he was going to retire, it's hard to make that announcement official. And I think that's why you see such an emotional moment out of the guy."

Brandon Graham played in 11 games during the 2024 regular season and finished with 20 total tackles (15 solo, five assisted), 3.5 sacks, two pass deflections, one forced fumble, and seven quarterback hits. He suffered a triceps injury and returned for the Super Bowl, where he had one solo tackle in the game.

Brandon Graham almost didn't retire

Brandon Graham almost did not retire after announcing last year that the 2024 season would be his final season. The longest-tenured Eagles player revealed he might not have retired if he was unable to play in the Super Bowl in February.

"If I didn't make it to the Super Bowl, I probably wouldn't be up here right now," Graham said at his retirement press conference. "I promise you I'd be begging to come back one more (year). I was happy to be able to make it back to play with my guys one last time, to put that uniform on in the big moment."

Graham suffered a torn triceps in Week 12 but managed to play in the Super Bowl to ride off into the sunset. He finishes his career as a two-time Super Bowl champion and made the Pro Bowl during the 2020 season. Graham finished his career with 22 forced fumbles, 76.5 career sacks, and 126 tackles for loss. He ranks 26th on the NFL tackles for loss career leaders list.