Philly’s Andre Mintze retired from football to work in healthcare. Now, he’s back to chase another UFL championship.

When Andre Mintze decided to end his brief retirement from football last week, two games before the DC Defenders were set to defend their United Football League title, he didn’t anticipate it to be a “big deal.”

The spring football league had been Mintze’s continued connection with the sport for the last three years. The 27-year-old Philly native’s journey, forged at Imhotep, saw him persevere through early adversity at Vanderbilt, and endure brief stops in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings.

He became one of the top pass rushers in the UFL last season en route to the Defenders’ championship, and had walked away from the sport earlier this year after beginning his post-football career in healthcare. But there he was last Sunday, being interviewed by ESPN sideline reporter Tom Luginbill during the Defenders’ playoff game against the Orlando Storm.

Mintze’s return wasn’t a big surprise to him. He had been in contact with Defenders coach Shannon Harris throughout the season. But what grabbed people’s attention was the fact he used paid time off to rejoin the Defenders for a two-week stint to chase a second consecutive championship.

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“I was talking to [Shannon Harris] on the phone, and I was like, ‘Man, listen, I’ll do anything that’s needed to make sure you hold up that trophy, if it’s giving out water, if it’s running down on kickoff, or if it’s playing on defense, man, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that if the timing, if it works out, that we do this thing,’” Mintze told The Inquirer by phone this week.

“He sent me a picture of my locker number, and long story short, bought my plane ticket, and I ended up in Dallas ... and it was all history from there.”

At Vanderbilt, Mintze earned a degree in medicine, health, and society, and was finally able to put it to use in Baltimore with Brighter Days Recovery Center, which provides psychiatric and substance abuse care. He began as a quality assurance director and was promoted to chief operating officer in January, two months before the UFL season started.

Making the connection, Mintze revealed, was a story in itself. Because spring football lasted just four months a year, players often needed another job to support themselves. Before his job at Brighter Days, Mintze was a car salesperson at Mercedes-Benz in Catonsville, Md.

There, he met the owner of Brighter Days, Dr. Walter Toller III, and sold him a car two years ago. After sharing his story with Toller, Mintze returned to football for the 2025 season. Needing to figure out his next role after winning the UFL title, the pair reconnected at, of course, a football game.

“He responded and told me to come watch the Ravens game with him and people in his company,” Mintze said. “We watched the Ravens game with him and got to speak to him one-on-one, and he was like, ‘Hey, you looking for a job?’ I was like, ‘Yes.’

“He had someone reach out to me two weeks later. … He gave me a chance to jump start my healthcare career, and I was just kind of like, ‘Man, stuff like this doesn’t happen often, nor does it happen on purpose.’”

Just over two weeks ago, Mintze was in meetings, working his 9-to-5 job. Now, he is on the cusp of being on a football field one last time, competing in the UFL championship game against the Louisville Kings at Audi Field in Washington on Saturday (3 p.m., 6abc).

Mintze’s energy in his return to the Defenders last weekend, who had a 5-5 record entering the game against the top-seeded Storm, certainly emanated with his teammates in the 28-22 win. The edge rusher finished with one tackle.

“I was like a kid in the candy store, like it was Week 11 [of the UFL season], and I’m flying around shaking everybody’s hands, because a lot of these guys I’ve been on teams with for the past three years,” Mintze said. “We built the relationship, built the rapport, and I’m just extremely excited just to be there.”

» READ MORE: Philly’s Andre Mintze once thought his football career was over. Nearly a decade later, he’s thriving in the UFL.

Football, which Mintze has played since he was 10 years old, was his “lifelong dream,” and he now has a chance to close the chapter on his playing career on Saturday in front of several family members, who are making the less than three-hour drive this weekend. His boss at Brighter Days, Toller, will be there, too.

“Being a two-time champion in a professional football league is something not a lot of people say [they] can be a part of, so I think it would just be something for me to make sure that myself and the team that I’m on goes out on top,” said Mintze.

“I’m just kind of rolling with it, enjoying every moment of it, and doing my part to make sure that however capacity the team needs me, that we’re able to hold a championship trophy up at the end of the day.”