NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham can still dunk a ball over the goal posts in a game and one day he might even prove it.
But not right now.
When Graham scored a touchdown in a win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, he ran toward the goal posts, hopped up as if to dunk the ball and pulled back.
That particular celebration might just have to wait.
"I thought about dunking, and I thought about the penalty," Graham said after the game. "The last time I did it, I was fined $32,000, so I'm not gonna do that."
He added with a grin: "I might talk to Adidas and see if they can cover for me."
The 37-year-old is the oldest player in the league with a receiving touchdown this season, so naturally the Graham who plays for the Saints now is different in some ways than the younger version of himself. When he attempted his last in-game dunk, he was 27 and in the prime of his career. Graham was the star of the Saints' passing game and able to push the boundaries to have a little fun.
He was responsible for the NFL banning celebratory dunks over the goalposts after the college basketball player turned tight end knocked the crossbar askew in 2013, causing a 20-minute delay to fix the uprights.
Although he has played sparingly this season, if he continues the scoring streak he's been on in the past two weeks, he might just get more shots at that celebration.
He has five targets this season, four receptions and three receiving touchdowns (matching the total of Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau and Juwan Johnson -- who have gotten the primary bulk of the snaps at tight end).
Graham has played 150 offensive snaps this season, with 31 of them coming in the red zone.
"The number of snaps that he's played has been limited, even in the last couple of games," coach Dennis Allen said. "The one thing we feel like, 'Man, there's an area of the field that we feel like this player can help us,' and that's in the red [zone]. And he's done that the last couple of weeks. But there's a lot of other snaps that go along in the game other than just the red area. I think we've got to continue to look at that balance, but I think he's earned the right to get some more snaps."
Graham had one other catch against the Panthers, on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Derek Carr on third-and-9 that Graham snagged high in the air with a defender wrapped around his neck.
"The best play ... was that catch. It was unbelievable," Carr said. "It's like, the only place I could throw it. And it's Jimmy Graham. I watched Drew [Brees] do it enough, like, give him a chance and he went up and made a heck of a play.
"I think the greatest thing is his leadership, what he brings to our team. Just the mellowness, just his demeanor when it's tough, when it's hard, those grinding days on Wednesday or Thursday. He has been just fantastic for our team."
When he signed with the Saints this summer, Graham said his legs had never felt better after taking up biking and sitting out the 2022 season. An old knee injury finally healed and Graham felt like he could still play.
Mentally, he was restless and not ready to leave football behind.
"I ended up moving onto a sailboat, and I just felt like there was something missing," Graham said. "There's nothing like scoring in this city and for this team and in this jersey. It was magical and hopefully we get a lot more. ... I feel like I've been kind of an underdog most of my life. So every play I get out there in that jersey, I play with a chip on my shoulder, and I'm always trying to prove people wrong."
This version of Graham has become more of a teacher.
When he arrived at the facility for training camp, teammate Tyrann Mathieu thought he was there to coach. Opposing players mock him for his age.
He has taken the jabs with grace.
"It's a different mentality. It's one where you're going in, and I remember kind of early in the game, one of the defenders asked me why I was still playing because I was 50," Graham said. "So I use that as motivation. If I'm 50, and I jump over you, I'm making these plays. It's more of an inspiration for everybody."
While he once scored double-digit touchdowns on a yearly basis, he now has a small role as the fourth tight end.
Graham plays less than 10 snaps these days, if he plays at all. He was a healthy scratch for four straight games before getting back in the lineup because of injuries to other players.
Allen didn't specify what kept him off the field but said that other players had defined roles that Graham didn't have.
"It kind of ends up being about opportunities," Allen said. "Jimmy's gone out in the last couple of weeks, he's gotten more opportunities, he's taken advantage of those opportunities, and when you do that, I think you should get more. I think that's what we'll look at as we move forward."
Graham said he understood that his role could be small when he signed with the Saints. It was the only team he wanted to play with again, and facing a prospect of another year without football, he'll take whatever he can get.
With four games left in the season, he figures there's still time to prove people wrong as the Saints (6-7) are making a playoff push. They are in a three-way tie atop the NFC South, and they are tied with five other teams for the sixth-best record in the conference with seven spots up for grab.
"It's interesting, this latter part of my career, I've kind of been a specialist in the red zone," Graham said. "I remember when I was young here, or even in Seattle after I hurt my knee, I wouldn't go into a game until the red zone. They'd call me the big unit, like [Hall of Fame pitcher] Randy Johnson.
"I'd go in and just catch fades. So when you get in the game, and the crowd is standing up, they know what's happening. They know it's an opportunity for me to maybe get the ball and you don't want to disappoint them. You always want to rise up to the occasion."