Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham will make history on Sunday.

When he suits up against the Buffalo Bills, that will mark his 189th game repping the Birds logo, which means he'll surpass former Eagles kicker David Akers for the most franchise games played. 

Eagles' head coach Nick Sirianni kicked off Friday's press conference with a long, meaningful monologue of what Graham has meant to him and the Eagles organization. 

"Man, he's a special player, special leader, special person," Sirianni said. "And just to be able to step into an organization, I always feel like I group all those guys together with those four guys that have been 10-plus year Eagles. That's a unique situation and just really helped my job as a head coach, made it a lot more simple …I don't think that's the right way to say it. But he just helped me out in my transition from becoming an offensive coordinator to a head coach because of the leader that he is. So he's awesome. He's unbelievable. 

…When he got hurt that first year, right? I missed him being around every day. And once he was healthy enough, he was around every day, and you could feel the difference. I mean… I could talk about him for a long time here and I want to be respectful. I'm gonna answer everybody's questions I can but the man…he's a special guy."

Sirianni didn't stop there. He kept going and told a special story about Graham from this past summer. 

"I saw him this summer, somewhere down on the Jersey Shore," Sirianni continued. "We're at the same pool. He's like, 'Hey, Coach, can I see it? Can I use that ball that you have?' And I'm like, 'no problem.' So, I throw him the ball. He's like, 'I'm gonna play catch with my son.' Next thing I know, he's playing catch with the entire pool. Like 30 kids. He's playing catch with the entire pool. I mean, this is what this is the type of guy he is. And it's it's mostly kids that are playing catch. But you know, grownups are going by going, 'whoop, give me give me a shot.' He's throwing it to them. Like, the guy's unbelievable. 

"And I actually appreciate the question because it gave me a chance to brag on him. Again, just not only a great football player, but a great person, great teammate, a great leader. I mean, you name it. And I and I think you hear the same thing from every person in that locker room. And every person in this building." 

Graham, a former first-round draft pick by the Eagles in 2010, is in his 14th season with the Eagles and playing under his fourth head coach. 

While he's no longer the fresh young buck that he used to be, the 35-year-old defensive end saw his best season to date in 2022 where he racked up 11 total sacks and 16 QB hits. It's worth noting that those numbers came right after he recovered from his 2021 season-ending Achilles injury. 

Graham has slowed down a bit this season, having just two sacks and five QB hits in 10 games, however, he still remains a valuable asset to the Eagles' defense with the big plays he comes up with. Not to mention the infectious leadership personality that he brings to the locker room, which is something that you can't coach or teach. 

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