Shayne Graham could have rejoined the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason. Instead, he chose the Baltimore Ravens -- and a chance to escape his demons.
Graham, 32, spent the past seven seasons in Cincinnati, but he missed two important kicks within 40 yards against the New York Jets in January, contributing to the Bengals' playoff defeat. The Bengals didn't offer a one-year tender to Graham, who received the franchise tag last year.
Despite that, Bengals coach Marvin Lewistold the team's official Web site that the team wanted Graham to return, but those playoff misses haunted the kicker.
"He had an opportunity to probably regain what he had here," Lewis said. "Unfortunately for him, he's got the demons of his last kicks here with us. He didn't make them. He's got to overcome those demons, and I think that was a lot of it. ... Unfortunately, that's what the fans remember around here are the kicks that he missed. That's the way that it goes. I wish him good luck."
"I had the opportunity to go back there (Cincinnati)," Graham said. "There's really no true motivation or any type of spite. They were very good to me. I love the organization. You move on and you make changes in life. This is where it's brought me, and I'm happy to be here.
"When I play there, I'll have friends in the stands and across the sidelines. Other than that, every kick is just as important than the next."
Graham has made 196 of 230 field-goal attempts in his NFL career and missed just three of 279 point-after conversion tries. His 85.217 field-goal percentage is the fifth-best in league history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
