2-time Super Bowl champ Brandon Graham retires after 15 seasons with the Eagles

Brandon Graham’s career in Philadelphia began with criticisms that he was a first-round bust and ended with him being one of the most beloved Eagles players of his generation.

Graham retired Tuesday following a 15-year career in Philly that was highlighted by his role in the defensive play that helped deliver the Eagles their first Super Bowl title.

“I gave everything I had, everything I had in this,” Graham said. “I don’t have no regrets.”

Graham, who turns 37 in April, thanked the organization, his coaches, his teammates and his family during an emotional new conference to announce his decision.

He recalled the long journey it took for him to win over the notoriously demanding Philadelphia fans as he went from mostly a backup with only 17 sacks in his first five seasons to a key part of a dominant front later in his career.

Graham said it was tough even to leave the house early in his career when he was given the “bust” label but that he was glad he pushed through and was able to remain in Philadelphia for his entire career.

“We didn’t start so tight, as you know,” he told the fans. "You made me work for this and I appreciate you for that. Through the struggles, the injuries and the moments where I had to prove myself over and over again, you never let me feel comfortable. You held me accountable. You kept that chip on my shoulder. You pushed me to be better, and when the time came, we celebrated together — two times.”

The former first-round draft pick out of Michigan in 2010 ends his career as the all-time leader in games played for the Eagles with 206, ranks third with 76 1/2 sacks and has the most postseason sacks with 5 1/2.

Graham is also one of four players who participated in both of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl wins: following the 2017 season against New England and last month against Kansas City.

Graham returned from a torn triceps to play against the Chiefs. He got on the field for 13 snaps and made one tackle in the 40-22 win and re-tore his triceps in the game.

While Graham had indicated that last season would be his final one, referring to it as his “farewell tour,” he said Tuesday that he might have tried to come back for one more season if he hadn't been able to play in the Super Bowl.

“I was happy to be able to make it back, to play with my guys, put that uniform on one last time at a big moment on a big stage,” he said.

He had a much bigger impact in the Super Bowl win against the Patriots when Graham’s strip-sack of Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter thwarted a comeback attempt and helped deliver Philadelphia its first Lombardi Trophy.

“It was a big moment in my career,” he said. “That's where I felt like things started to get even better from that point on. ... That's something I will always remember.”

Graham’s career began under coach Andy Reid and continued under Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni as he was one the constants on the defensive line for a team built from the trenches.

He had only one season with double-digit sacks — 11 in 2022 when he helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl — but was a consistent producer of pressure throughout his career.

He made the Pro Bowl in 2020, was a second-team All-Pro in 2016 and was fourth in voting for AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2022 when he returned from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in 2021 to have his prolific season as a pass rusher.

Graham had only 6 1/2 sacks in 28 games over his final two seasons but ends his career as a two-time Super Bowl champion.

“We fought and we fought hard,” he said about his teammates. “We celebrated the highs and endured the losses and through it all we built something that can never be taken way: two championships. Two of them. We made history together.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham speaks during the team's NFL football Super Bowl 59 parade and celebration, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Brandon Graham speaks during a news conference announcing his retirement, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at the Philadelphia Eagles' NFL football training facility in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Brandon Graham speaks during a news conference announcing his retirement, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at the Philadelphia Eagles' NFL football training facility in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Brandon Graham holds up two Lombardi Trophies during a news conference announcing his retirement, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at the Philadelphia Eagles' NFL football training facility in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Brandon Graham cries during a news conference announcing his retirement, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at the Philadelphia Eagles' NFL football training facility in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)