Jimmy Graham stood in front of the media for about 17 minutes on Saturday, wearing a Saints hoodie, a Saints hat and his signature smile, and that was notable for a few reasons.
The biggest of those: After the blockbuster trade to the Seahawks in 2015 that sent the star tight end to Seattle, he largely stopped talking to the media. He was risking fines, but he didn't care, and that was the same for his stops in both Green Bay and Chicago.
Seriously, feel free to search for Graham interview clips, and the vast majority are from close to a decade ago when he was a member of the Saints. And he had a good reason.
"I didn’t really have a lot to say that was positive," Graham said. "At the time it really hurt, and it was really difficult for me, so I just focused on, at the time, just being a good teammate and committing to the place I was at, to that scheme, to learning to fit into a [Seahawks] team that was great. ... That’s kind of one of the bigger reasons, I guess, I started getting in trouble with the media a little bit. I genuinely didn’t know what to say and I just didn’t want to be bothered with it, honestly.”
But as the 36-year-old spoke following a veteran rest day, he made it clear there was no harbored resentment from the trade he absolutely didn't see coming. New Orleans feels like home. The Saints always felt like home. That's the only place he wanted to be.
Graham made that fact clear to his agent, Jimmy Sexton, this offseason after a year away out of the NFL which was spent focusing on getting healthy.
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"If I don’t retire as a Saint, then I wasn’t going to play again," Graham said, relaying his message to Sexton. "That was kind of the determination and we were talking last year about some stuff, we were communicating throughout the season as well. … Then come this offseason, a couple months ago reached out and started talking, and now I’m here.”
It was emotional for Graham, driving to the Saints facility on Monday for a workout that ended with high marks and a free agent deal. It was emotional seeing his teammates in the facility. It was emotional seeing fans at practice for the first time on Friday.
"It feels amazing to be back home. Just, really, driving up to this facility on Monday brought back beyond beautiful moments for me. Not only here in this building but here in this city," Graham said. "I became a man in this city and it meant everything to me to play for this city, and so to come back here and to be able to get all those amazing memories, amazing wins, amazing people, amazing fans. ... Words can’t describe what it feels like to be gone that long from something that you love, from the people that you love. So I’m fired up.”
A LOT HAS CHANGED
One question that remains for Graham is exactly what his role will be with his new/old team. He's no longer the 285-pound "meathead" from his previous tenure, which he attributed in part to working out with former teammate Johnathan Vilma.
On the advice of Tony Gonzalez he's working on slimming down. He's currently listed on the Saints roster at 265 and says he spent the offseason biking hundreds of miles a week and focusing on getting his body right. It's worked wonders, he said, and he's now in "the best cardio shape" of his life.
Graham knows he'll have to compete for a roster spot and wouldn't go so far as to state he expects to make the team. Still, it's hard to envision a scenario where he returned without a clear vision of what his role would be -- and that certainly wouldn't be for a victory lap. Graham's best skill is likely the one that the Saints will look to take advantage of this season.
"I think I have a lot of knowledge to share [in the tight end room], and obviously I’m feeling better than ever," Graham said. "I’m still 6-7 and I like the red zone.”
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He adds that he can still dunk, but he knows penalties aren't what he needs to be bringing the Saints. So don't expect any bent goalposts. But what he can bring is years of insight to a TE room loaded with intriguing young players. Juwan Johnson went so far as to compare Graham to Master Splinter, part of a larger comparison of the entire TE room to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (he identifies as Donatello).
“He’s like the OG of OGs of tight ends," Johnson said. "And so we’re all in there, like, being a guy and I think he’s been so helpful to us, us having an older guy like that. … It’s so good for a guy like that to be in here, just to lead us.”
That's part of the conversation he plans to have with his former quarterback, Drew Brees, who reached out and was in "shocked" after news of the deal broke. Graham said he plans to Facetime with Brees on Sunday. The role reversal isn't lost on either player, with Graham describing Brees as his "older brother" early in his career.
"Everything that he taught me, how he brought me under his wing," Graham said, "and now to be on the reverse role with other guys in the team is very interesting and fun, to be able to do the things that were done for me.”
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