Za’Darius Smith hit a ‘dark place’ after retirement. The Falcons helped save him.

FLOWERY BRANCH — For 25 seconds, there was nothing but silence.

Seated behind two microphones placed on a desk in the Falcons’ press room, Za’Darius Smith choked up. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Smith, who for several years was one of the NFL’s most feared pass-rushers, became vulnerable.

His last 10 months led him to his lowest point. Football led him back to happiness — but with a heavy heart full of scars.

Smith didn’t want to retire last October, but he had no choice. He answered a call from his mother’s doctor, who told him that she didn’t have much longer to live. Smith alerted his employer, the Philadelphia Eagles, but they didn’t want him to leave.

“That was the only thing I had left — to retire,” Smith told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

So, Smith ended his career after 11 seasons, 70½ sacks and three Pro Bowl selections. But he didn’t ride off into the sunset. He entered perhaps his darkest head space and faced perhaps life’s nastiest curveball.

Smith’s mother, Sharon, passed away Feb. 10 at 66 years old.

Then, he lost his grandmother.

Then his father.

And Smith, removed from the spotlight and celebrity status associated with his football career, suddenly found his inner circle shrinking, too.

“When I retired, a lot of people fell off,” Smith said. “I wasn’t a big-name guy anymore, so I lost a lot of friends, man.”

Smith found reprieve from his hardships through being a father. He had more time to spend with his 12-year-old son than ever before. He relished the car drives to school and the quality time with his younger son. He became more of a family man and feels he matured as a father.

But the cloud persisted.

“I was in a dark place,” Smith said.

Smith leaned on a friend, Wallace Gilberry, to get through his despair. Gilberry, whose nine-year NFL career ended in 2016, grew up near Smith, and the two connected while the former played for the Bengals and the latter suited up for the University of Kentucky.

“He took me up under his wing and was there with me the whole time, man,” Smith said. “So, big shout out to him.”

But Smith’s biggest saving grace might just be football.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry, who signed Smith in 2023 and traded him midway through the ’24 season, called the Montgomery, Alabama, native two weeks ago with a few questions.

Where are you mentally? Do you want to play football? Do you still love the game?

Smith didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, I love it,” he said. “I need to come back because I’m at my lowest right now.”

Smith flew to Cleveland and worked out for the Browns, but the two sides couldn’t agree on a financial number. Smith told Berry to call him back once they figured it out. In the meantime, he flew to Atlanta and worked out for the Falcons, where he reunited with Kevin Stefanski, formerly his coach with the Browns.

The Browns viewed Smith as a No. 3 defensive end, or in layman’s terms, a rotational player. The Falcons called Smith and told him them needed him. They lost two edge rushers — Jalon Walker to a season-ending knee injury and James Pearce Jr. to an eight-game suspension — and wanted a stabilizing veteran presence.

The Falcons, Smith decided, were a better situation. His past with Stefanski mattered. So did his mother’s influence. Montgomery is only two-and-a-half hours southwest of Atlanta, and playing close to home served as something of a promise kept from Smith to his mom.

“My mom — rest her soul, man — she always wanted me to be in Atlanta with the Falcons,” Smith said. “She always wanted the family to come up and support me for the games, because that’s a closer ride. So, to get the phone call from Atlanta, it was great.”

During his workout, Smith impressed the Falcons enough to warrant a one-year, $6 million contract, which he signed Aug. 18.

He asked himself after he retired, ‘Man, should I stay retired?’

He received a steady dose of calls from his trainer, especially in his darkest times, with offers to work out. So, in the spring, Smith worked out twice a week and started posting videos to social media, which generated interest from teams.

The Falcons are still ramping Smith back to playing shape — he’s done individual periods and took Tuesday’s practice as a scheduled rest day — but the 33-year-old has cherished his first week-and-a-half back in an NFL locker room.

“This is my happy place,” he said.

Smith has already immersed himself within the Falcons’ locker room.

He spent the team’s 34-6 preseason victory over the Colts using an iPad to get acclimated and coaching defensive linemen. And when the Falcons scored their first touchdown, he joined the rest of his teammates in following Stefanski’s command to storm the field.

With his right arm raised well above his head, Smith ran more than 40 yards to celebrate in the end zone. What first looked like a new addition trying to fit in with his teammates actually carried significantly more meaning.

“I haven’t been that happy in a long time,” Smith said. “So, just to be around a great group of guys — I feel like in a locker room, we can relate to each other, because we are the chosen ones in our family, and don’t nobody really take care of us.

“So, to come here and be able to have that joy again, I feel comfortable here and just feel like family in the locker room.”

Smith let his mind wander to Week 2, when the Falcons have their home opener against the Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Maybe, he speculates, he’ll rent two charter buses and have his mother’s friends catch a ride from their local church to watch him play. One announcement on Facebook, he figures, will get the job done.

The early parts of this season serve as what Smith hopes is the launching pad to a second wind. He wants to reach 100 career sacks, and he believes it’s feasible. He didn’t start playing football until his senior year of high school, so he has less wear and tear on his body. All told, Smith feels he can play for a while.