The tears were shed not Monday as Patrick Peterson formerly announced his NFL retirement in the building he spent a decade at for work but the night before, when he was having dinner with family and friends.

Yet as his highlight reel played prior to him taking the stage at the Dignity Health Training Center, the former cornerback was hit with another pang of emotion, and again when he watched the power quartet of Bruce Arians, Carson Palmer, Tyrann Mathieu and Larry Fitzgerald wish him well in videotaped messages.

Peterson hadn't played in the NFL since 2023, when he appeared in all 17 games for the Steelers. He hadn't played for the Cardinals since leaving as a free agent after the 2020 season. He was at peace that his playing days were over.

To make it official, however, it was important for him to return to Arizona and do it with the Cardinals.

"Hopefully I did enough to put me where I want be at the end of my career, which is in Canton and football heaven," Peterson said. "Arizona gave me that opportunity to do that, so it was only right to be able to retire a Cardinal."

He did so with a host of former Cardinals teammates on hand: Fitzgerald, Andre Roberts, Tony Jefferson, Adrian Wilson, Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, Drew Stanton, Dennis Gardeck and Calais Campbell.

Current Cardinals Trey McBride and Garrett Williams, along with coach Jonathan Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort, were also on hand to help celebrate the career of one of only five defensive players in the Super Bowl era to make a Pro Bowl in each of his first eight seasons. (The others were Aaron Donald, Derrick Thomas, Lawrence Taylor and Joe Greene.)

"You see his full body of work, he was probably underappreciated, more in the middle of his career, because it was expected of him," Wilson said. "As he got older, he had set such a high bar for himself, even if he did have a down game, he got heavily criticized even if (for most) it was a really good game.

"I probably never played with a guy as talented -- maybe (Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) in terms of physical ability -- in terms of the mental makeup, the physical ability and the ability to lock in. That was his calling card."

Besides the eight Pro Bowls, Peterson also was named first-team All-Pro as a punt returner as a rookie and first-team All-Pro at cornerback twice, leading the way for the "No Fly Zone" secondary of Arians' tenure.

For a franchise with multiple all-time greats in the secondary, Peterson's resum fits just fine.

"Everywhere I went," he said, "I wanted to be etched in stone."

Pete Vander Stoep/Arizona Cardinals

In a draft class that featured Cam Newton, Von Miller, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, and J.J. Watt, Patrick Peterson measured up.

The Cardinals took the cornerback fifth overall in 2011, and he electrified crowds as a rookie with four punt-return touchdowns. He evolved quickly into CB1, an anchor leading to the nearly annual story of who the Cardinals would put across from him as CB2 and inevitably get picked on because teams threw away from Peterson.

"He was never crazy loud or super rah-rah, but when he spoke, people listened," said Jefferson, a safety on the "No Fly Zone" teams. "It was a respect factor. His stature was who he was. When I came in, seeing him in games and in college even to this day, the number one question people ask is how was it playing with Pat P? I have the same answer: That was the best corner I ever played with."

It wasn't always smooth, at least at the end. There was a trade request during a frustrating 2018 season, a six-game NFL suspension to start the 2019 season. Peterson was disappointed with how his Cardinals' tenure ended and publicly made that known.

Once it became clear to Peterson that his playing days were behind him, he reached out to Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. The two had lunch soon after this past Super Bowl to "amend some of the things that needed to be ironed out" and leading to Monday's "no-brainer" announcement in Tempe.

"I know there were a lot of things said and it wasn't the greatest departure," Peterson said. "But at the end of the day, this is where my legacy is."

The only six games Peterson missed in his decade with the Cardinals were the ones from the suspension, starting every other one of the 154 in Arizona. He had 28 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries, four sacks and 66 passes defensed the latter number dropped precipitously after his first three seasons when opposing quarterbacks wouldn't look his way.

He was named to the NFL's All-Decade team of the 2010s. He would take Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, and DeAndre Hopkins on one-on-one. Sometimes he would win. Sometimes he would not. But he'd always want the assignment.

"We would be in meetings, and coaches would be 'Pat, you have this guy.' Everyone else, we were playing defense," Jefferson said. "That helped us out tremendously. Made our job easier, helped me make plays, helped me get paid."

Caitlyn Epes/Arizona Cardinals

Peterson's Arizona legacy was about more than football. He worked hard to get involved with various charities twice he was the team's Walter Payton Man of The Year that included trips to Phoenix Children's, food banks and the "Shop with a Jock" events for underprivileged kids. He visited homeless shelters, and his wife Antonique a doctor who went to medical school during the couple's time in Arizonahelped locally during the COVID pandemic.

There was also "Patricks Corner," a reading program for Arizona elementary schools. A space at 13 different schools was carved out for some 1,200 books where at-risk students could read and explore.

"Being in the community was something that was very important to me because these people are seeing me day-to-day," Peterson said. "They see me on the golf course, they see me at Fry's. They see me at Whole Foods and Sprouts. They were seeing me out and I wanted to lend a helping hand."

Such aid extended into the locker room and sometimes, even the draft room. When the Cardinals were trying to decide whether to take the chance at drafting Tyrann Mathieu in 2013, a reason the team ultimately made the Honey Badger a third-round pick was the assurance from Peterson that he would help Mathieu translate into the NFL despite off-field college issues.

"We were not going to draft Tyrann Mathieu but for the input of Patrick Peterson," owner Michael Bidwill said. "Patrick was so important to our decision. He shined the light on all the good things Ty stood for."

Mathieu became a star in the secondary next to Peterson.

"The way you inspire me as a football player, the way you inspire me as a man, inspired me as a man, as someone you can count on," Mathieu said in his video message to Peterson. "So much of the swag, so much of the aura, I get that from you."

Caitlyn Epes/Arizona Cardinals

As Monday's post-event reception was winding down, Wilson who had his own reconnection with the Cardinals a few years after his playing days ended said it is important for players like he and Peterson to be able to form that second bond with the team for which they played so long with.

"You think back on memories, good or bad, things you second-guess or want to do things differently," Wilson said. "When you come back to a team, you want to do it the right way, end things the right way. As you start whatever that second career is, you want to set things right."

Peterson ultimately left Arizona on Monday with his family (including children Paytin and Parker, both of whom were born in the state) owning that different ending.

He joked at least mostly joked on the flight to Arizona that it was bittersweet that he was coming back only for a retirement announcement instead of a final season to play as a Cardinal.

"I'm perfectly fine where I'm at," Peterson said. "I do still have the urge to play right because I'm physically in shape I know that this game is a young man's sport."

In his perfect world, he will emerge on the media side of the NFL. In his dream, he could become an analyst during games, although he knows he has much to learn. The early plan is to do some work on the Cardinals' behalf in some way media-wise, getting some reps as he transitions to a new part of his life.

"The only way I can feel like I can satisfy those needs is to still be a student of the game," Peterson said.

He didn't win the Defensive Player of the Year he wanted to take home. He wasn't able to help earn the franchise's first Lombardi Trophy. Those were two misses on his checklist. But he does feel he is one of the best players in franchise history, and that cannot be argued.

The possibility of Peterson going into the team's Ring of Honor came up; Peterson said with Bidwill sitting next to him on stage that he had been told he is in line for the privilege.

"It won't be before Fitzy," Peterson added with a smile and Fitzgerald who likely won't go in before he reaches the Hall of Fame himself sitting in the front row.

That's for another time and place. For now, Peterson was back in the fold, "part of the family" who will be seen and heard around the team.

He just had to get to the second part of his NFL life.

"I felt it was only right for me," Peterson said, "to end my journey where I started."

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