No ill will from Shayne Graham or Bengals

After Shayne Graham officially signed with the Baltimore Ravens Thursday, both Graham and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said that there were opportunities for the 10-year veteran to return to Cincinnati.

"I had the opportunity to go back there. There's really no true motivation or any type of spite or feeling," Graham told Baltimore reporters. "They were very good to me. You move on and you make changes in life. This is where it's brought me and I'm happy to be here."

Graham's deal with the Ravens could be worth as much as $2.5 million if he meets certain incentives. As the Bengals franchise player last year, he earned $2.483 million.

Graham, who will compete with Billy Cundiff for the job in Baltimore, leaves Cincinnati as the most accurate kicker in franchise history, making 177 of 204 attempts, 86.8 percent. Last year was a struggle, though, due in part to problems at long snapper. Graham was 4 of 7 after the first five games, which included a 31-yard game-winner in overtime at Cleveland, but he rallied when Clark Harris replaced Brad St. Louis at long snapper, and was 23 of 28 in the regular season.

After missing from 35 and 28 yards in the playoff loss to the Jets, though, the odds of Graham returning were slim at best.

"He had an opportunity to come back here and probably regain what he had. Unfortunately he has the demons of the last kicks here when he didn't make them," Lewis said. "He's got to overcome those demons and whether he could come back to this locker room that was going to be difficult. That's what the fans remember around here is the kicks that he missed.

"The guy who got Shayne going was his coach (Darrin Simmons) and he had an opportunity to say 'Hey look coach, I want to get this done and be a part of the team here.' And I don't think that's what he wanted to do. It worked out the way he wanted it to work out."

Fans also would be quick to point out two other notable wide rights - a 39-yarder in the 2006 finale against Pittsburgh, which would have put the Bengals in the playoffs, and a 47-yarder in overtime in 2008 against Philadelphia. Graham had four game-winning kicks with the Bengals, but only one in the past four seasons.

Said Graham of the playoff misses: "I don't think I would put so much pressure to have to prove anything. That is motivation for myself. I know I'm better than that. I think that will give me a little bit of an edge and I'm hungry."

Graham has had success kicking in Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. With the Bengals, he was 15 of 18 there including a club record seven field goals in a 2007 win.

The most relieved players on the Bengals roster are Mike Nugent and Dave Rayner. Even after they signed there was still a possibility that Graham would return.

"It's been floating up here the last couple months. He had first dibs here, it was his deal and he played so well here," Rayner said. "Knowing that he is somewhere else, we can kind of get a different mindset and know that there's a job to win and I'm excited."

Fans won't have to wait long to see Graham. The Bengals regular-season home opener is against the Ravens in Week 2.

GRAND MARSHAL: Linebacker Dhani Jones will be the grand marshal for the Meijer 300 presented by Ritz Nationwide Series race June 12 at Kentucky Speedway. Jones will give the command for the 43 drivers to start their engines.

Speedway officials said that Jones' role not only on the field but in the community was the reason why they selected him. Carson Palmer was the honorary starter for the 2006 race and Lewis also has visited the track.

Jones has attended the Daytona 500 along with races at Pocono and Lime Rock.