Eagles Planning to Ruin Patriots' Legend Tom Brady's Day ... Again
Years ago, Brandon Graham helped ruin Tom Brady's Super Bowl. This Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles' veteran defensive end will try to spoil the New England Patriots legend's homecoming.
A sellout crowd at Gillette Stadium, owner Robert Kraft and a national late-afternoon TV audience won't be the only ones excited for "Tom Brady Appreciation Day" in Foxboro. Graham, whose forced fumble of Brady helped the Eagles beat the Pats in Super Bowl LII, will also be amped to be playing in front of the NFL's GOAT.
“It’s going to be electric,” Graham said following Wednesday’s practice, per Ed Kracz of Eagles Today. “A lot of people are going to be in attendance. We just gotta do us, man, and enjoy the time. I’m just excited because it’s Week 1.”
The Eagles, who enter as four-point favorites, are coming off last February's Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots, meanwhile, begin the season in hopes of their first playoff win since Brady left after 2019. A win - especially in front of Brady - would do wonders for a team that last season went 8-9 and without a signature win.
“It’s going to be good to see him go out right,” Graham said, “I’ll make sure I say, ‘What up?’ to him, say hello. It’s a business trip. We gotta go out there and take care of business.”
In his 14th season, Graham will lead an Eagles' intent on stopping Patriots' quarterback Mac Jones and new weapons Mike Gesicki, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ezekiel Elliott. Though both played at Michigan, he hasn't met Brady - other than the game-sealing sack-and-strip at the end of the 2017 season.
“I never had a chance to have that moment outside of football,” Graham said. “When I’m up in Michigan, it never worked out where we were somewhere at the same time. Other than the Super Bowl. It would be cool to see how he felt, pick his brain a little bit.”
The Patriots hope Graham's only interaction with quarterbacks on Sunday is a handshake with Brady on the sideline.
