Brandon Graham walked into the locker room at the NovaCare Complex with a familiar smile across his face as reporters gathered around to speak with the defensive end.
Graham ended his seven-month retirement on Tuesday and is back for another season with the Birds, marking his 16th year in green, a franchise record.
Graham said the possibility of unretiring first came up before Za'Darius Smith, who ended up taking over Graham's locker, signed in Philadelphia after Week 1. Graham said he was trying to deal with retirement and work through not playing, so he decided not to come back, but he knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity if it presented itself again.
Then, Smith abruptly retired after Philadelphia's game against the Giants, and that's when the conversations with Graham started again.
"I knew I wasn't all the way done, honestly," he said. "... When Za'Darius retired, it just felt like it was the perfect thing to do. Cause obviously he was in my locker and to get it back and just to [say], 'Let's go do this thing again.' That's how I feel, it's like we got an opportunity again and [I] just wanna be able to just go to war with my brothers every week."