"Jason Taylor gave up on the graceful exit a long time ago.

A member of the NFL's All-Decade team for the 2000s, Taylor hung around the NFL 15 years, accepting supporting roles the past few seasons because he could still contribute and because he never wants to leave the locker room.

More than the games on Sundays, it's the locker-room atmosphere that keeps the greats hanging around. And on the day he announced his retirement from the NFL, Taylor admitted he was no exception.

"For the last 15 years I've been part of a fraternity. There's no place like an NFL locker room," said Taylor, who announced on Wednesday that Sunday's game against the Jets will be his last.

"These guys become your family."

Where else can Taylor school a Pro Bowl receiver like Brandon Marshall on the finer points of dominoes, or teach Jared Odrick how to make a delicious cappuccino with the machine that sits inside his locker?

Where else can he find a room full of men hanging on his every word?

"He's taught us all a lot," Odrick said. "Come every day and be a professional. Handle your business, handling football as a business. Conduct yourself with a certain manner. When you look at JT's [career], that's something you strive for.

"To be in the league this long, to be successful and to have that type of respect is something you definitely strive for."

The fantasies of becoming Mr. Hollywood, starring in movies, have vanished for Taylor. All that's left these days are family and football, and the two are entangled. At least they are until Sunday, when he'll begins the next chapter in his life.

"Nothing is going to replace professional football," Taylor said. "You can't find it on the golf course. You can't find it anywhere.""