Grady Gallagher | Blogger

Sup fam? Thanks for tuning in to Day 2 of “The Final BlogDown.” (Grady, stop it.)

Today I’m switching it up a bit. I’ve had this on my mind for a while but it’s time to let it go. This past December our basketball team had the opportunity to take a trip to Philadelphia and New York City while playing a tournament in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was a blast. We won the tournament and toured NYC, Times Square, and the city of brotherly love all in five days! But, I want to tell you a story about our flight back.

So we board our plane in Philadelphia in the mid-morning and we are heading to Detroit for our connection to Kansas City. The plane is five seats across so it’s a decent size, and I am sitting near the back with most of the other guys on the team. I am on the side of the plane with three seats, the aisle is on my left, and two more seats are on the left side of the aisle. Greg Siebenaller is in the seat next to the window on the far left of the row, then an open seat, then the aisle, then me, Sam Lipps, and Kennedy Drey. Solid. (Funny note: Greg may have had a little too much fun on the night before our trip back.) (Another funny note: When I say he had too much fun, on this day, Greg was the Diaper Dandy/MVP/Commissioner of the struggle bus.)

Anyway, so nearly everyone is in their seats, but the one next to Greg is unoccupied. (Trust me, nobody wants that seat.) The last person to get on the plane was a larger fellow wearing a plain gray hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants, and Jordans. He had BeatsPros on his head as well, but as far as I was concerned, he was just another traveler that happened to sit in the WORST POSSIBLE SEAT (next to Greg) on this plane ride. I do credit Greg for immediately informing the guest that he, “may have had too much to drink the night before.” The stranger chuckled and said, “Ha, that’s alright man. You gotta do what you gotta do.” I’m sure the man would later regret his decision to stay next to Greg as he had to pull his shirt up over his nose. Although, the reason why (puke or lack of deodorant) is still unclear.

Now we’re minutes away from takeoff and I receive a text from Thomas Wisecup (da real MVP) who is sitting in the same seat as I, just three rows back. The text reads, “Dude, this guy might be an NFL player or something.” I laugh at the text and turn my head and shake it at Thomas. The stranger to my immediate left is quite large, but he’s nothing unordinary. (My guess at the time would’ve been 6’1” 270 pounds.) I text Tom back, “No way.” He responds, “I don’t know. He’s got BeatsPros, Jordan 6s, and an iPhone 6 Plus.” (For all the elders, these are all very expensive items. Normal people may have one or two, but three???) I began thinking, “Is there any way to determine if he’s one of the 400 players in the NFL before we take off in under two minutes?” I text this to Tom only to find that he’s already narrowed down his guess. “Brandon Graham,” he texts. The text is followed by picture from what looks like the Eagles website. (Gosh, iPhones are clutch.) So Tom (da REAL MVP) has already supposedly narrowed down NFL players from 400 to one in a minute and also given me photo evidence, but his last text before we took off was the crown jewel. It read, “Plays for Philly but went to Michigan. From Detroit lol.” (Yes, Tom is one of those girly guys that uses “lol”.)

At this point, my excitement was at an all-time high. Could I really be next to an NFL player? Why is he not sitting first class? Do I talk to him? How do I start the conversation? What if it’s NOT Brandon Graham? Could this just be the biggest coincidence ever? How’s my hair look? I had no idea what to do. Time for takeoff.

I swear, the first half hour of the flight, I spent one minute of every five minutes trying to get good glances of him and the picture (see below) (Ha. Look at Greg!) (Also, I’m the guy on the left) Tom sent me. I am good at recognizing people’s faces, but the lighting in this picture makes Graham look differently than he does in person. So I’m comparing…… and comparing…. And comparing….. and comparing….. and also comparing. I just can’t figure it out. Finally, I reach over to Kennedy and ask him what he thinks. He says “No way,” but he says it as if he was saying, “there’s totally a way” this could be our guy. So he’s on board (punny) to talk to Graham. I tell him to think of ways I could start the conversation because I don’t want to be like, “Hey, dis you?” and show him the picture. I need something clever. Ken says run with something about Michigan like one of my friends is a huge Michigan fan or something. I still don’t like it but it’ll have to work, but when to strike? I figure after the drink cart passes us, I’ll make my move.

The time is upon us and the drink cart just passes and I lean in…… “Excuse me, I was just wondering if you played football in college somewhere because you just look really familiar?” (OMGGGGGGGGGGG). He smiles and says, “Yeah, actually I played ball at Michigan.” (WOW) I nodded and said, “Well we’re from Iowa so we’re big Hawkeye fans and I also have a friend who’s a big Michigan fan so that must be where I’ve seen you.” (Totally lied about the Michigan part but had ‘Kyle Weeden’ in mind if he asked for my friend’s name.) (Looking back: Why the heck would he ask for my friend’s name? It’s not like he would know him.) He responded, “Oh nice, yeah, and now I’m actually a player for the Eagles.” (Boom goes the Dynamite)

For the next 20-30 minutes on the flight, we had a fantastic conversation about life in the NFL, Graham’s future, and everything in between. His most surprising answer was to one of my questions was about who talks the most trash in the league. He said, “Phillip Rivers.” No way would I ever have guessed that. At the time, he was a free-agent coming off his best (and most healthy) year as a pro and the Eagles barely missed the playoffs. He hoped to sign back with Philly as he loved the passion of the fans and liked what Coach Chip Kelly was trying to do with the team. The rest of the conversation I have to keep private as it was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. But, I’ll give you these:

Brandon Graham Fun Facts:

Favorite Movie: Rush Hour
Favorite Athlete: Apollo Ohno
Favorite Team: Flint, Michigan Tropics
Shampoo: Nivea
Car: Anything with a Hemi
Hobbies: Working out, eating every available snack Delta gives their plane passengers, and Candy Crush
Favorite Song: Your Love by The Outfield (#Respect)
And Team That Would Surely Beat Storm Lake St. Mary’s in 2011: Woodbury Central (No doubt, he says.)

I left that plane almost floating on air, and it was an unbelievable ending to what had to be the best trip I’ve ever been on. Go to NYC, Philly, win the tournament, and meet an NFL player. One thing I don’t want to forget, everyone should be a huge fan of Brandon Graham. He is kind, genuine, hard-working, and resilient and someone that young athletes should look up to. Philly resigned him for a good chunk of change this past spring and he deserves it. Really an awesome dude I’ll never forget.

Thomas Wisecup. Thanks.

Thanks for tuning in loyal followers. You guys are awesome too!

Until tomorrow……