Devin McCourty isn't thinking about retirement as he enters his 10th NFL season.
The Patriots safety and team captain is focused solely on preparing for the 2019 campaign. In a conversation with Jeff Howe of The Athletic, McCourty made it clear he hasn't thought about his future beyond the season that lies ahead.
“I haven’t,” McCourty told Howe. “I’ve been having a lot of fun this year. I haven’t thought about next year or anything else. 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, a first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, feels a sense of pride in making it all the way to double-digits in years served in the league.
“It was always a goal – once I got into the league – to play 10 years, so it means a lot,” said McCourty. “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.”
There was some speculation prior to Super Bowl 53 that it could be McCourty's final game. The 31-year-old answered "I don't know for sure" when asked whether he'd retire if the Patriots defeated the Rams. But later that week, McCourty clarified what he continues to emphasize to this day: he's focused on the present, not the future.
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