Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David has played one of the most physically demanding positions in football for 14 years. He’s not sure whether he’ll keep going, but he believes he can.
“I feel good,” David recently told the Caps Off podcast via JoeBucsFan.com. “You know, I’m healthy. I’m happy. I’m undecided [on retiring]. I’m genuinely undecided, like I don’t know. I don’t know. I still got a lot of football left in me. I know that for sure. I still love the game. I know that for sure. The other side is I want to spend more time with my daughter. She’s in school, so [I’ve been] taking her to school and it’s a good feeling.”
David turned 36 last month. He’s due to become a free agent next month.
A second-round pick in 2012, David has played his entire career with the Buccaneers. He’s survived (actually, thrived) through five different head coaches.
David has played 215 regular-season games. He has started every one of them. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2013. Two other times, he was a second-team All-Pro. Somehow, he’s been voted to the Pro Bowl only once.
He’s at crossroads. After that much time, it makes sense. While (amazingly) he’s confident he can still physically do it, life changes for a guy in his late 30s. Priorities change. Football season is a significant commitment of time and focus and effort.
At some point, the cost of continuing outweighs the benefit — especially for a guy who has made $100.846 million under six different contracts with the same team.
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