The 5-time Pro Bowl tight end calls it a career.
As New Orleans Saints training camp finally got underway this week on Airline Drive, the headline news was about a player who would no longer be a part of the proceedings as Tyrann Mathieu announced his unexpected retirement from the NFL.
That being said, the Honey Badger wasn’t the only Louisiana sporting legend who decided to hang them up on Tuesday, as it became known that former Saint Jimmy Graham was also officially closing the curtain on his professional football career.
Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images
Graham played the first five years of his career in New Orleans before being traded to Seattle, and after further stints with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, he returned to the Saints, where he played his final season in 2023.
Graham scored 89 touchdowns in the NFL, including 16 when he led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2013. He was selected to five Pro Bowls, totaled 8,545 career yards and, more recently, rowed the Arctic Ocean in record time in a four-person group, a sensational feat that perfectly embodies his sheer athleticism that was put on display so often in the black and gold.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis confirmed that the former Miami Hurricane will indeed retire as a Saint, where he played both his first and last game in the NFL.
While perhaps more expected than the multitude of other retirement decisions we’ve seen this offseason, Graham’s announcement marks the end to a career that saw many of its finest moments unfold in the Caesars Superdome.
What’s your favorite memory of Jimmy Graham’s time as a Saint? What might his resume look like had he not been traded all those years ago? Give us your thoughts in the comments!