The Eagles officially signed tight end Kylen Granson to a one-year contract at the NovaCare Complex on Thursday.
Granson, a former fourth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts, has compiled 86 receptions for 958 yards and a touchdown in 62 regular-season games (17 starts) in his four NFL seasons.
The 6-foot-3 tight end sat down with PhiladelphiaEagles.com for a Q&A to learn why he chose the Eagles, what he does off the field, and more:
Liam Wichser: How does it feel to be an Eagle and what led you to coming here?
Kylen Granson: "Feels great to be an Eagle. First of all, love Philadelphia. Been a fan and I've always liked the Eagles. It was my first free agency, so it's been a wild road. Everyone told me it would be like that. But what drew me to the Eagles is their winning culture here, the program here, the guys in the locker room. Everything about this place just screams championships. So, I wanted to see what that locker room is like, what it's like to be at the top of the game. I wanted to challenge myself."
LW: What would you tell Eagles fans who might not know about you as a person and player?
KG: "I bring a lot of energy to the table. I'm a little quieter than most, but once you get to know me, I'm a big bundle of laughs. Off the field, I'm a big reader, big nerd. I'm just an athletic nerd down at heart.
"I have a literacy-based foundation that's a nonprofit, where we basically served underprivileged youths. They make books, we host STEM nights, read along sessions, different programs like that, and we do that back in Indiana. But who knows, maybe we'll bring it here."
LW: What made you want to start the nonprofit?
KG: "My mom and dad are both teachers, and they're in the education system, so I pretty much was a big reader growing up. I didn't have a choice, but I kind of grew up with Xbox and PlayStation, and my mom noticed, you know, I wasn't performing as good as I should have. I was doing well, but I wasn't exceeding expectations. And so, she enforced this system called the match system, which was, for every minute you game, or you want to game, you have to read. So, if you want to play video games for an hour, you have to read for an hour.
"But through it, I found my book, and my book was Percy Jackson and Lightning Thief, and once I found that series, it was like the world opened up. And all of a sudden it was I was reading all the time. I wasn't gaming as much. I actually got in trouble in middle school for bringing books to class, and they had to outlaw me for bringing books in. But I believe that reading spurned a lot of my love for learning and allowed me to get into some good schools such as Rice and SMU and ultimately led to my path here."
LW: Where do you see yourself fitting in with this tight end room?
KG: "I've always prided myself on being adaptable and being a Swiss Army Knife, being able to do pretty much everything that's asked of me. The blocking game was something that was quite new to me, because coming out of the draft, I'd only been a tight end for two years, so that was a big question mark for a lot of people. But for the past four years I've been operating against some of the best players in the league. I've had some success there, and I feel like I've refined my skills. And so, coming from a wide receiver base, I always have that to fall back on, but I've really prided myself on my growth in the blocking game these past few years. So obviously, there's a talented group here, and whatever I can do to fit in here and show off my skills as well to compliment theirs, I'm more than open to doing and hoping we continue to win games."
