August 27, 2026
Jay Biggerstaff/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Za'Darius Smith's retirement came as a shock last season.
Za'Darius Smith is back in the NFL, now playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
Last October, the edge rusher had suddenly retired, not long after he had signed with the Eagles, and at a point when he was the best going for the Birds when they were thin at the position.
It was a shock at the time, and then a curious turn when word went around that Smith worked out with the Cleveland Browns. Soon after, the 33-year-old signed with the Falcons.
And as Smith finally explained to the Atlanta press on Wednesday, his retirement and then return were far heavier decisions than anyone realized, or that he ever let on.
Said Smith, via Atlanta News First's Kinsey Lee:
"So I wasn't supposed to retire...Said I wasn't gonna tell this story, but I'ma tell it...Yeah, man...Got a phone call from my mom's doctor telling me that she don't have much longer to be on this earth. So I let [the Eagles] know. Obviously, they weren't trying to let me leave, but that was the only thing I had left – to retire. So I retired.
"Dealt with that. After losing my mom, I lost my grandma. Then after my grandma, I just lost my dad. So ya'll obviously know what I've been through.
"So I get a phone call from Cleveland – shoutout to [Browns general manager Andrew Berry] for just calling me and seeing where I was at mentally. He was just asking me if I want to play football again. You know, did I still love the game? And I was like 'Yeah, I love it, man! I need to come back because I'm at my lowest point right now.'
"So he told me to come in and do a workout, and we'll go from there."
One of the most moving press conferences I've ever been a part of....
— Kinsey Lee (@kinseyleetv) August 26, 2026
Za'Darius Smith retired in 2025 during his 11th NFL season, just five games after signing with Philadelphia, for personal reasons. Today he shared those reasons. Very emotional and said his mom always wanted… pic.twitter.com/d94v3QD3yT
Smith went on to explain that the workout with the Browns went well, but that they "couldn't get the numbers right" on a new contract. That's when the Falcons, led by former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, swooped in, with the team in need of a veteran edge rusher.
The fit was perfect, Smith, a native of Greenville, Alabama, said, because he was close enough to home, while being able to get back to the game he loves.
And that was emotional.
"This is my happy place, man. Coming back to play football," Smith said, pausing to fight back tears. "I was in a dark place.
"But coming out, running out on the field, the fans, not only just the fans, man, the joy that I get from winning and just getting sacks, you know. I started late in high school. My senior year of high school, I didn't know how to play football. My coach always told me just to go get the quarterback. So ever since he told me that, man, I've been good at it."
"When I retired, I think I had 70 sacks," Smith continued. "So now I'm trying to reach 100. So any way I can get to it will be good, but man, I'm happy to be back. Like I said, this is my happy place, and ready to get going."
Officially, he has 70.5 sacks.
But now that he's back, and that everything's out in the open, Eagles fans, from afar, will surely be pulling for him to get those 30 more.
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