Just one week after adding World Record Rower to his already impressive career resume, former All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham has announced his official retirement from the NFL. Graham not only confirmed his plans to retire from professional football, but to do so as a member of the New Orleans Saints.
Graham was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 3rd Round of the 2010 NFL Draft after playing just one season of college football at the University of Miami. Previously, Graham played four seasons for the Hurricanes basketball team. In 120 contests, Graham averaged 4.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game before hauling in 17 receptions for 213 yards and 5 touchdowns as a graduate senior.
Impressively, the lack of reps on the gridiron didn’t hold Jimmy Graham back once he arrived in New Orleans. After a respectable rookie season, Graham exploded onto the scene during the 2011 campaign, catching 99 passes for 1,310 yards and 11 touchdowns while emerging as a preferred target for future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. Two years later, Graham led the NFL and set a Saints franchise record with 16 touchdown receptions.
Jimmy Graham Has Success in Seattle, Green Bay and Chicago
Although it’s appropriate that Jimmy Graham does indeed retire as a member of the New Orleans Saints, his career as a member of the Saints only lasted five seasons before the prolific tight end ventured out west. Graham was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 and quickly established a rapport with quarterback Russell Wilson.
As a member of the Seahawks, Graham caught 170 passes for 2,048 yards and 18 touchdowns in just 39 games with the team. Graham’s 10 touchdowns in 2017 were the most among all tight ends that season.
Even as the peak of his career was behind him, the 6-foot-7 Graham remained a reliable red zone target, hauling in 16 more touchdown receptions in four seasons split between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.
New Orleans Provides Perfect Send-Off For Jimmy Graham
The last time Jimmy Graham stepped on a football field was, appropriately, for the New Orleans Saints during the 2023 NFL season. Graham caught only six passes, but fittingly, four of them put points on the board.
Even in pseudo-retirement, Graham stayed engaged with the city of New Orleans. The aforementioned record-setting Arctic Challenge that Graham completed on July 14 was with hopes of raising $1 million for Covenant House and Laureus Sport for Good, a pair of New Orleans-based organizations.
Of course, it was always bound to end this way for Graham, who in 2024 revealed that retirement was on the horizon, and that he planned to retire as a member of the team who brought him to the NFL 14 years earlier.
“I just want to make sure when I retire, it’s as a Saint,” Graham told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell in June 2024. “I’ll just make sure I give them a call and see exactly when they want me to retire and then I’ll end up doing it.”
The time has come, but it won’t be long until this Saint will surely marches back into New Orleans to eventually take his rightful place in the New Orleans Saints’ Ring of Honor.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Jimmy Graham Set to Retire From NFL as Member of New Orleans Saints appeared first on Heavy Sports.