The Patriots made Devin McCourty a first-round draft choice in 2010. Still, the safety faced long odds to play as long as long as he’s played.
“It was always a goal – once I got into the league – to play 10 years, so it means a lot,” McCourty said, via Jeff Howe of TheAthletic.com. “The average [NFL career] is three [years], and a lot of guys who get to stick around are like, man, it’d be awesome to play 10 years. To be in my 10th year and still feel pretty healthy, to go out here and compete, just being able to do that, obviously I don’t think about it every day. But to come in and be like, man, this is my 10th training camp, I take pride in that and just trying to keep it going.”
McCourty committed to this season, but he isn’t considering the future. Once you hit a decade in the league, it’s year by year for most players anyway.
“I haven’t thought about next year or anything else,” McCourty said. “I’m just trying to see how much better I can get in year 10 and see how good I can be still at, in a couple weeks, [when I turn] 32 years old and still playing football and trying to embrace that.”
McCourty, who has three Super Bowl rings and two Pro Bowls a three-time Super Bowl champion, is in the final season of his five-year, $47.5 million contract.