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Marcus Hayes: Brandon Graham finishes Super Bowl speeches with a tease (?) and Jalen Hurts tells a secret as the Eagles make Jason Kelce proud

Marcus Hayes, The Philadelphia Inquirer on

Published in Football

PHILADELPHIA — Seven years ago, on another clear and cold February afternoon, Jason Kelce wore a Mummers outfit, and, well-lubricated with anti-inhibition juice, for slightly less than six minutes, he spewed forgivable profanities in the most memorable speech Pennsylvania has heard since Gettysburg.

Nobody recreated the incomparable oration Kelce delivered after the Eagles’ first title, in Super Bowl LII. Wisely, after the Birds won No. 2 on Sunday in New Orleans, nobody tried. The 40-22 demolition of the Kansas City Chiefs, who’d won the last two and had beaten the Eagles after the 2022 season, was statement enough.

Most kept it short Friday, which Kelce gloriously did not. Most sprinkled in foul language, but nothing like the nuclear naughtiness Kelce reached. But all were sincere and genuine, and almost all were selfless. It was exactly the sort of ceremony you’d expect from a massively talented group of players who realized they could best amplify their greatness if they amplified the greatness of each other. That was coach Nick Sirianni’s motto this season, and that was how the most gifted team in Eagles history delivered the best season in Eagles history, and it was how they finished the year on the Art Museum steps.

The parade itself was an orgy of appreciation and celebration that produced several memorable snapshots.

The best marketing: Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts wore a signature Nike Jumpman 23 brand sweatshirt that read, “Love, Hurts,” which mimicked the altered L-O-V-E statue in Love Park.

The best accident: GM Howie Roseman strode down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, an outsized cigar in his teeth … and a crescent-shaped, beer can scar on his forehead. A fan threw a brewski to him just a little too hard.

When the Birds finished their 4.6-mile flight from South Philly (Kelce himself preceded them on the route, then disappeared, beer in hand) they took a break, gathered themselves for lunch in the museum, then faced the one million adulators on the Parkway, hanging from trees and clinging to statues. Sixteen executives and players took a turn at the mic.

Roseman, his wound cleaned but still seeping crimson, delivered the cleverest message: “I bleed for this city!”

The eldest Eagle, 15-year veteran Brandon Graham, went last, but what he said might have been the most important thing said regarding this season and next: “The only problem I had [with 2024] was it’s over, and we’re getting ready for the next one! … We’re gonna stay gritty. We’re gonna stay gritty.”

Does that mean he’s not retiring, as he’d indicated at the start of the season? When asked afterward, Graham remained noncommittal. But he seemed pretty committal during his speech.

At the end of his address, which largely was G-rated, Graham, perhaps unable to resist, recited the nastiest parts of Kelce’s “No one likes us, we don’t care” ditty from seven years ago. Oh well. It was a vibe.

It began with a billionaire and two politicians, who displayed decidedly more propriety. Around 2:30 p.m., owner Jeffrey Lurie led the team down the Art Museum steps to DMX’s anthem, “What’s My Name,” holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft in his right hand, the silhouette of the Rocky statue on the top step behind him.

Self-described diehard Eagles fan Gov. Josh Shapiro, who grew up in Montgomery County, went first and rubbed it in: “It would seem, Jeffrey, that the Philadelphia Eagles are now ‘America’s Team.’ You hear that, Dallas?”

Mayor Cherelle Parker, who, during the playoff run, famously misspelled “E-A-G-L-E-S,” indulged herself until the yawning crowd booed, but Lurie followed and revived the masses.

“There are no friggin’ words to describe delivering a world championship to our incredible fan base,” he said, thereby perfectly describing delivering a world championship to his incredible fan base. “You are the greatest. Whether it’s at Lincoln Financial Field or halfway around the world,” he said, referencing the team’s latest globe trot to São Paulo, Brazil, to open the 2024 season.

He called his team “humble” and “selfless” and “a model for us all,” patted himself on the back for winning two titles, and finished with “let’s shoot for three.”

Deal.

 

Unlike Doug Pederson’s promise that “this is our new norm,” this might actually be the new norm. This core group, with the best offensive line and the youngest defense in the NFL and the Super Bowl MVP quarterback, should, in fact, contend for at least the next two seasons; that’s the shelf lives of the contracts of Saquon Barkley and Lane Johnson, the best of a vastly gifted group.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, usually as long-winded as that Gettysburg addresser, thanked the fans, led the spelling bee cheer, and was done. Similarly, Darius Slay, one of the most talkative Eagles in history, saluted rookie corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in what likely were his last words as a Bird; at 34, he’s probably going to be one of Roseman’s salary-cap casualties. Even security chief Big Dom DiSandro, in his signature black Eagles windsuit with the Italian flag embroidery, took a turn to thank the fans, many of whom he is related to.

A.J. Brown, the best receiver in team history and a well-documented diva, thanked the fans, then had this message for his critics: “They said I was a diva. … I’m a [expletive] champion!”

Alrighty then.

Not even Saquon Barkley, perhaps the best free-agent signing in Philly history and usually a paragon of taste and respect, could resist the energy when reviewing the fan base: “One thing that I’ve learned is you guys are tough, you guys are resilient, and you guys know how to [expletive] fight!”

Australian left tackle Jordan Mailata, wearing Super Bowl LIX ski goggles backward, was the first to thank the team’s significant others; then, with that angelic voice that belies his giant physique, he led the thousands in “We are the Champions,” and sang it pretty well. North Carolinian left guard Landon Dickerson made sure to mention Delco and other Pennsylvania suburban counties (thanks, man), as well as New Jersey (again, solid).

To no one’s surprise, feisty safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson worked blue: He started with “B-T-A! B-T-A!”, as in, “Belt to [Butt],” the team’s intention against a Chiefs squad they considered their inferior. He continued to confess that, when he arrived in Philadelphia in 2022 as a player with a sketchy reputation, he was “lost as a [expletive],” and when he left via free agency for Detroit in for the 2023 season, “I cried my [butt] off,” then reflected upon the type of mature leader he’s become in his second stint in Philly.

Johnson, like Hurts, stayed on point. He thanked Kelce for teaching him persistence, Sirianni for teaching him “dog mentality,” Nick Foles for teaching him soft-spoken strength, and Hurts for teaching him how to silence critics with persistent pursuit of excellence.

Hurts was the first player to speak, of course. He was eloquent and vulnerable.

As he approached the dais, he raised the Lombardi, and began with, “Philly Philly!” recalling the signature play from Super Bowl LII, the “Philly Special,” as it was adorably mangled when discussed on the sideline by Foles and Pederson. Hurts took a shot at his critics, but also said, accurately, that “Defense wins championships!”

Indeed, the NFL’s No. 1 defense won this one.

Hurts was careful to compliment Sirianni, with a wise-guy smirk, knowing whatever he said (or didn’t say) regarding his boss would be scrutinized, given his repeated non-support of Sirianni in the past calendar year: “I want to thank Nick for his intentionality, his fight and his passion in seeing this thing through.”

Hurts also acknowledged that Lurie always was the force behind his being drafted in the second round in 2020 despite having a young franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz, and that it was Lurie who pushed for a $255 million extension after the 2022 season, so his final thanks went to the top: “Last but not least, Mr. Lurie, for having faith in me, for drafting me and bringing me to this city.”

Hurts uses motivators, and he keeps them secret. For instance, the wallpaper on his smartphone for the last two years was a shot of him leaving the Super Bowl field with Chiefs confetti raining down around him. Friday, he let us in on another one:

“I told myself when I got drafted I wouldn’t come to the Rocky steps until I won a championship,” Hurts said.

“And now, we’re here.”


©2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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