Super Bowl: Eagles DE Brandon Graham embracing second trip to big game

PHOENIX — Brandon Graham is five years removed from his strip sack of Tom Brady late in Super Bowl LII, but how it felt hasn’t waned.

The longtime Eagles defensive end’s signature play that helped capture the franchise’s only Super Bowl victory still gets him fired up.

“I’m still feeling good off of that play,” Graham said Tuesday.

Graham, 34, hopes he’ll have reason to feel good Sunday when the Eagles play Kansas City in Super Bowl LVII in what could be his last time in the big game.

A first-round pick in 2010, Graham knows he’s close to the end of his career, which is why he’s embracing this week much more than he did in his only other Super Bowl trip.

Graham is taking more pictures, more video, trying to slow things down and just create as many memories as possible. He is appreciating it even more and reflecting on his journey after suffering a torn Achilles in Week 2 last year.

“I am,” Graham said. “I’ve been doing that the last couple of days already, trying not to rush the days through. The game will be here when it comes and then it’ll be over. For me, I’m just trying to enjoy every day, not be in a rush. It could be the last time you ever come here and do this. I am taking it all in and just enjoying every bit of it.”

Graham is one of five Eagles who were on the team that beat the Patriots five years ago and won the Lombardi Trophy in Minnesota. Graham said it will “always be special,” and it would be great to win another one with them.

The other four players are defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, center Jason Kelce, right tackle Lane Johnson and kicker Jake Elliott.

All of them remain big parts of this team.

Kelce and Johnson were named First-Team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl this season. Cox had seven sacks and Graham a career-high 11, despite playing the fewest snaps since 2013 in a season in which he didn’t suffer an injury. It’s the first time in 13 seasons that Graham had double-digit sacks.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni credited the four linemen for not only their play and production but for helping this team overcome struggles last season and being the right examples and leaders for this team.

“Last year, when I was a first-year head coach, I was unlike other first-year head coaches in that I had four guys that were 10-year veterans in the league and that had been to the top of the mountain,” Sirianni said. “To have those guys on the team was really important for us to get through that 2-5 start last year and get us through the downs of the season.

“Those guys are phenomenal leaders. We’ve got good leaders and good captains on this team leading the way.”

This is another thing that Graham embraces. He wants to be someone the players look up to, and he was more than willing to pass the torch to quarterback Jalen Hurts as the face of the franchise.

“It’s his team,” Graham said. “My time has passed. I’m only helping him, passing it on to him as he’s coming up and I’m leaving.”

Graham and the other veterans who have been here before are trying to help their teammates playing in their first Super Bowl stay focused and locked in and not try to do too much. Graham believes this is the type of leadership and influence that Sirianni was looking for from the elder statesmen he has continued to lean on.

“It’s always good to show guys the ropes, get them comfortable,” Graham said. “That’s when you know that you’re ready to leave them and let them do their job.

“I feel like that’s what coach wanted us to do, to make sure we show them how to practice, show them how it’s done as far as your regimen, getting your body together, investing in yourself so you can be available for these guys. He kept a lot of us because we give them something to look up to and I don’t take that for granted.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.