Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
McCoy happy to be back with Reid in search of ring
MIAMI >> With his career far closer to the end than the beginning, LeSean McCoy’s likely last chapter will be an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame sometime this decade.
The leading rusher of the last decade, however, was still looking for that elusive Super Bowl ring before he gets there. Heck, he was just looking for a playoff win.
The 31-year-old Kansas City Chiefs running back checked the latter off of his list, albeit in a reduced role, earlier this postseason. McCoy missed the AFC Championship Game due to the flu —and is looking for his first championship after his Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills teams went a combined 0-4 in his first four playoff appearances.
That “Shady” is getting this opportunity at all is the capper to the most turbulent year of his career, one in which he found himself as a free agent for the first time in his career after a shocking release by the Bills at the end of this preseason.
“It was something new,” McCoy said of the uncertainty.
“I’ve always been on a team and (had my contract) extended. The transition from Buffalo to here was really fast, just a couple days. That was definitely tough. The cool thing has been knowing Coach (Andy) Reid and some of the guys, I’ve known them for a while. It was like extended family coming back home. It’s been a crazy year, but I think that being here right now, it makes it worth it. I’m excited to be here. In 11 years, I’ve never been to a Super Bowl. There are so many great players who never get to play in a game like this, so even though how everything went this year was kind of crazy and hectic, I’m happy to be a part of it.”
McCoy, who played his first six seasons for the Eagles before being traded to Buffalo in exchange for Kiko Alonso prior to the 2015 campaign, is the last decade’s leader in rushing yards (10,434), yards from scrimmage (13,923) and points by a nonquarterback (514).
That history of production made the twotime All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowl back a hot commodity during his brief stint on the free agent market, but he says that Reid, who was his coach with the Eagles, was the biggest influence on his decision to go to Kansas City.
“When I had all the different teams calling and trying to get me, I talked to him and it was just a different type of conversation,” McCoy said. “It was like a father to son or an uncle to a nephew, that type of conversation. We just talked. It felt like home again. He was like, ‘Come back home, we miss you.’ So, for me to back here with him, it’s definitely special.”
For McCoy, who averaged 4.6 yards per carry in the regular season, but whose playing time has dwindled with the emergence of Damien Williams, playing any role in getting Reid a Super Bowl title would be more meaningful than getting a ring for himself.
“That would mean the world to me and to a lot of guys on this team, but also a lot of former players who played for Coach Reid, they really want him to win,” McCoy explained.
“You see how hard he works at this. I remember when I was in Philly, it was the first time I’d ever seen a coach stay the night in his office. I thought that was crazy. He had a blow-up (mattress) there and he’d work, work and then go to sleep. He’s always been a father figure to a lot of players, so we have a lot of respect for him. I think the last two weeks, I’ve had so many former players that played under Coach Reid – even coaches from different teams – talk about how they want him to get a ring, how he deserves it. And we feel that. I’m sure for the Super Bowl, there will be a lot of Chiefs fans cheering for us and for Coach Reid, but there will be a lot of former players on different teams and even guys from other teams that will be cheering for him as well.”
As for McCoy, if he does get an opportunity on Sunday, the 22nd all-time leading rusher in NFL history says the moment won’t be too big for him.
“We’re all competitors, so obviously it’s a big game – the biggest game of the year – but you’ve got to just mentally have that ‘mamba mentality,’ where it’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get it done,’ and it’s one game at a time, one play at a time, one series,” he said. “You try to keep the same practice routines, try to keep everything the same. That’s the biggest thing, keep everything the same. Not too high, not too low, and embrace the moment.”