Raiders Quarterback Is A Rare Example of NFL Longevity

Longevity is rare in the NFL, and attaining it isn’t easy. Quarterbacks generally have a better chance to get there, and Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins is one player who’s found a way to do more than just hang on. 

It’s not totally working in his favor right now, but it is keeping Cousins in the lineup, and he was part of a feature from Mike Jones of The Athletic that explored the journeys of several players who have managed to have long careers. 

Cousins originally thought of himself as a longshot back when he was drafted by Washington back in 2012, before they were even the  Commanders. He was selected 100 picks after then-Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, and his mindset was that if he got to wear an NFL uniform, it would be a “pretty cool accomplishment.”

What changed his perspective was fatherhood, according to Jones. Cousins grew up in the suburbs of Chicago alongside the children of NFL legends like Walter Payton and Mike Singletary, and he learned that his classmates had no memories of their father having played, per the writer. 

Cousins wanted his own kids to have memories fof him on the field, and that became a specific goal when he made the Pro Bowl in 2023. He met Peyton Manning’s son, Marshall, and discovered that Marshall’s only memory of his father playing was watching the confetti fall when the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50. 

The quarterback thought that he wanted to play past his boys being five years old, and he eventually saw the kids of quarterback Drew Brees playing catch with both their father and Cousins, so that became an unstated goal. 

Cousins now has two sons who are 9 and 7, respectively, and they’re both playing flag football. The quarterback created a weekly tradition where he attends their games on Saturday and they watch his on Sundays. 

The value for the Raiders quarterback is having his sons experience the very cliches that Cousins talks about on a weekly basis — i.e., the work ethic, toughness, resilience, success vs. failure and so on. As boilerplate as it sounds, this is who Cousins is, and he also took Brees’ advice to focus on his legs as the key to a long career. 

Now Cousins is trying to hold off a quarterback in his early 20s, and he’s doing it after rebuilding his own legs after an Achilles tear.  It’s the football version of the cycle of life, as Cousins is still going as he tries to revive the Raiders.