Brandon Graham Brandon Lee Graham ( born April 3 , 1988 ) is an American football Linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was drafted by the Eagles in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft with the thirteenth selection in the draft and the first from the Big Ten Conference . He played college football at Michigan . Graham was the 2009 Big Ten Conference Co - MVP as recognized by the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award . He was the 2009 FBS tackles ( TFLs ) for a loss ( per game ) champion after finishing second in 2008 by . 01 TFL per game . He was the 2008 & 2009 Big Ten Conference TFL ( total ) champion . After completing his career as defensive end for the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team , he had a total of 29 . 5 career sacks and 56 career TFLs for the Michigan Wolverines football team . In 2008 , he led the Big Ten Conference in TFLs ( 20 in 11 games ) . In 2009 , he posted 26 TFLs and 10 . 5 sacks in 12 games . As a member of the 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team he earned Second - team 2008 Big Ten All - conference recognition from both the coaches and the media . He was a finalist for the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football Hendricks Award . He was a First - team 2009 All - Big Ten selection by the coaches and media . He was named to several First - team and Second - team 2009 All - America lists by various publications . Graham was also named MVP of the 2010 Senior Bowl . In high school , he was a highly decorated and highly rated linebacker who served as captain for the 2006 U . S . Army All - American Bowl . He was listed on numerous All - American lists and was a finalists for some of the highest individual honors a high school football player can earn . Early years . As a youth , Graham played football for the Police Athletic League Detroit Giants for seven years until joining the eighth grade team . Born and raised in Detroit , Graham attended Crockett Vocational Tech , a school that began participating in Michigan High School Athletic Association ( MHSAA ) football competitions in 1996 and that did not have a proper locker room for its football team before moving in his senior season . Since the football field had no lights , parents had to shine their car lights on the field for late practices . At Crockett , Graham . who had been playing competitive football since age seven , was expected to make an immediate impact upon joining the football team ' s starting lineup as a sophomore , and at the end of the season he was recognized as an honorable mention lineman 2003 All - Detroit selection by " The Detroit News " . As a junior , Graham served as linebacker , offensive guard , placekicker and punter for his team , and he led his team to the MHSAA state championships , while becoming one of three juniors named to the 2004 First - team All - Detroit team with one source listing him as a placekicker and the other as a linebacker on the team . Crockett won Detroit Public School League Division 1 championship game at Ford Field and entered the Division 5 MHSAA semifinals with a 12 – 0 record , but Crockett lost 9 – 0 to defending state champion Lumen Christi Catholic High School . In addition to recording 91 tackles ( 20 for a loss ) , he maintained a 3 . 8 grade point average . In one game , he posted twelve tackles , four sacks , four forced fumble s , two blocked punt s and scored on a 78 - yard fake punt . He was selected for the Associated Press first - team Class B all - state team as a linebacker . In high school , Rivals . com ranked Graham as the top class of 2006 high school football prospect in the state of Michigan , the number two inside linebacker prospect and the overall fifteenth best prospect in the nation . Scout . com listed him as the number three linebacker in the nation and described him as the number one overall prospect in the midwest . Scout also described him as " arguably the best inside linebacker in the nation " . ESPNU ranked him as the number two inside linebacker and number thirty - one prospect in the nation . Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming , listed Graham as the best linebacker in the country for " USA Today " . " The Atlanta Journal - Constitution " listed him at 15th among their national top 25 prospects . Entering his senior season , he was the overwhelming selection as the best high school football player in the state of Michigan according " The Detroit News " . He had run a 4 . 43 - second 40 - yard dash at the Nike Summer football camp . As a senior , he intended to also play tight end and fullback . One " Detroit News " preseason analysts listed him at linebacker , tight end and offensive guard . During the season , after missing four weeks to a knee injury , Graham was chosen as one of 78 players to participate in the January 7 , 2006 U . S . Army All - American Bowl at the Alamodome . He was also named as a finalist for both the Parade All - America High School player of the year ( The high school equivalent of the Heisman Trophy ) and the Walter Payton Trophy . He was elected captain of the East team at the U . S . Army All - American Bowl and recorded four tackles as well as a blocked field goal in the game that also featured two of his Michigan teammates : ( Justin Boren and Stevie Brown ) . There were only 16 finalists for the Parade award , including future Michigan teammate Stephen Schilling and future Heisman - winner Tim Tebow . Graham led his team to a rematch against Lumen Christi , which they lost 35 – 21 in the MHSAA Division 5 district championship game . In Graham ' s three years at Crockett , they went undefeated in the regular season and as a senior he was again selected to the All - Detroit first - team as a linebacker . Graham was also selected as to the Associated Press Class B All - State football team as its player of the year . " The Detroit News " selected him to the All - Class state Dream Team . He was also selected as the All - class statewide best linebacker as part of the inaugural class of The Michigan Prep Football Great 8 awarded by the Mid - Michigan Touchdown Club for being best at his position in the state . By his senior year , he had a 3 . 2 grade point average . Since Graham was the first Michigan athlete to play in the U . S . Army All - American Bowl , he was not aware that he was violating Michigan state rules by participating in an out - of - state all - star game . He had to surrender his high school athletic eligibility for the winter and spring seasons . During his time away from athletics , he overate and added . Although he had been recruited as a linebacker , with the additional weight he was moved to defensive end . As he lost the excess weight he began to realize that he could excel at a lighter weight . For his athletic excellence , Graham received many honors . Among the recognition he received are Parade Magazine All - American , EA Sports All - American , " USA Today " All - USA High School All - America first team ( No . 14 player in the nation by USA Today ) , Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year , first player from the state of Michigan to play in the U . S . Army All - American Bowl , 2005 Detroit News No . 1 Blue Chip prospect , and No . 2 on the Detroit Free Press Best of the Midwest rankings . Additionally , he was recognized as one of ten top prep athletes in Michigan in 2005 - 2006 , including men and women from all sports , as a 2006 McDonald ' s - Powerade Tomorrow ' s Winners honoree at the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame dinner . College career . Lloyd Carr era . Graham arrived at Michigan measuring and . Graham was initially listed as a linebacker at Michigan , but before the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season started for the 2006 Michigan Wolverines football team he switched to defensive end . Graham was ( along with Greg Matthews , Carlos Brown , Brandon Minor and Stevie Brown ) one of five true freshmen to play in the season opening game . Graham was the backup for 2006 Lombardi Award and 2006 Ted Hendricks Award winner LaMarr Woodley . Graham also performed as a reserve defensive tackle during the season . Graham made his first tackle for Michigan on October 28 against Northwestern and recorded his first sack and forced fumble on November 11 against Indiana . As the 2007 Michigan Wolverines football team prepared for the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season , Graham got some unusual news off the field when he found out that he had been given a perfect 99 rating in the NCAA 2008 EA Sports even though his star teammates Chad Henne , Jake Long and Mike Hart had not . Also , off the field , Graham was issued a ticket playing loud music in a vehicle on July 24 and missed the September 18 court date after pleading not guilty . This caused a judge to issue an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court on a disorderly conduct charge . The charges were dropped under the belief that he had been misidentified . At the start of training camp , he weighed and was the projected starter at defensive end . Although projected to as the starter , Graham played sparingly in the opening game loss to two - time defending FCS champions Appalachian State Mountaineers on September 1 . Head coach Lloyd Carr noted his disfavor with Graham at the start of the season : " Brandon , he needs to get focused , " Carr said , " and do the things that he ' s capable of doing . " He was disappointed in Graham ' s efforts in practice . In the third game , on September 15 against Notre Dame Graham recorded 3 . 5 sacks in the rivalry game to help lead Michigan to its first win of the season . The following week he had 1 . 5 sacks , a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a victory against Penn State . Over the course of the season , he started six games at defensive end . He led the team in sacks with 8 . 5 and was second in forced fumbles with 3 . He ranked seventh in the Big Ten for both statistics . He was a mid - season Ted Hendricks Award watch list candidate . Rich Rodriguez era . Graham , who had been troubled by conditioning issues the prior season arrived at spring practice in very good shape , which pleased newly arrived head coach Rich Rodriguez , who was welcomed by a defensive line composed entirely of returning starters , including Graham . Graham began the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a Hendricks award watch list candidate for the 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team . However , the team began the season unranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time in 23 years . On September 27 Graham had 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles against the Wisconsin Badgers , and he was named Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week . Prior to the October 25 Paul Bunyan Trophy game against Michigan State , Graham guaranteed a victory . Although the team lost 35 – 21 , Graham again recorded three sacks . Graham finished the season with 10 sacks . He led the Big Ten with 20 tackles for a loss ( TFL ) and 1 . 82 TFLs per game and was second with 0 . 91 sacks / game . He ranked second nationally in tackles for loss and tied for eleventh in sacks . After the season , he was recognized as a 2008 Second - team All - Big Ten Conference selection by both the coaches and the media . Graham was selected as the team Most Valuable Player . Graham began the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a watch lists candidate for the Bednarik Award , Hendricks Award , Lombardi Award , Lott Trophy , and Nagurski Trophy for the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team . He was also selected by ESPN as the 10th best player in the Big Ten Conference before the season started . He concluded the season as the Chicago Tribune Silver Football recipient as the Big Ten co - MVP ( with Daryll Clark ) . He was the seventh defensive player to earn the award and second in the last 25 years as well as the first co - recipient . Graham was the first player from a losing team in eight years and only the second player to win who was not either Big Ten offensive or defensive player of the year . He posted 26 TFLs in 12 games , which led the nation with 2 . 17 average tackles for a loss per game ( ahead of conference rival O ' Brien Schofield who was second with 1 . 884 ) . His total of 10 . 5 sacks ranked fourth in the Big Ten Conference . Four times during the season , he recorded multiple sack games and he had three solo TFLs in four games . He ended his career at Michigan with 9 TFLs ( 8 solo and 2 assists ) in his final two games , including a career - high 5 solo TFLs against Ohio State in the 2009 rivalry game , which was the final game of his career . Graham was one of seven finalists for the Hendricks Award . At the conclusion of the season he was a 2009 First - team All - Big Ten selection by the coaches and media . He was a First - team 2009 College Football All - America Team selection by ESPN , Rivals . com and Scout . com , and he was a Second - team All - American defensive line selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation , Associated Press , " Sports Illustrated " , " College Football News " and " The Sporting News " . He was an honorable mention All - American by " Pro Football Weekly " ( which had no second team ) . Graham was again selected as the team MVP , which made him the school ' s first defensive player to be two - time MVP . As of December 2009 , Graham was the only Big Ten player on Mel Kiper ' s " Big Board " Top 25 . Brandon Graham earned MVP honors at the January 30 , 2010 Senior Bowl with five tackles , two sacks , one forced fumble . Professional career . Pre - draft . At the NFL Combine , Graham ranked 8th among defensive linemen with a 4 . 72 40 - yard dash and 10th in the bench press with 31 . Philadelphia Eagles . Graham was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles 13th overall after trading up in the 2010 NFL Draft . Graham decided to wear number 94 for the Eagles immediately after the draft , but changed his mind and chose number 54 . Graham shares the same sports agent ( Joel Segal ) as teammate Michael Vick . He was the first Big Ten Conference player selected in the 2010 NFL Draft . He agreed to terms on a five - year contract on July 29 , 2010 . Graham recorded his first NFL sack against the Detroit Lions in a week 2 win on September 19 , 2010 . After suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament ( ACL ) in a week 14 game against the Dallas Cowboys , Graham was placed on the injured reserve list on December 14 . He underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee on December 21 . Graham was placed on the active / physically unable to perform list on July 28 , 2011 , before the start of training camp . He was removed him from the physically unable to perform list so he could return to practice on October 24 and activated on November 5 , 2011 . In 2013 , Graham moved from defensive end to linebacker . Many people had predicted he would become a linebacker at the pro level back when he was still in college .