All season, Detroit Lions safety Glover Quin has been brushing aside talk about his potential retirement. At 32 years old and with signs that his body may have slowed down, Quin’s focus has remained on the season at hand, and he hasn’t thought much about the future.
But with the Lions now out of the playoff race and just two remaining games on the schedule—including Detroit’s home finale against the Vikings this Sunday—Quin admitted he has started thinking about life after the Lions. This week’s game could be his last at Ford Field.
“I did think about that the other day, I was like, “Wow, I played a lot of games at Ford Field,” Quin said on Wednesday.
Quin has, indeed, played a lot of games at Ford Field. Since signing a five-year deal with Detroit back in 2013, Quin has played and started in 84 games... out of 84 total games. He has yet to miss a single start in his Detroit career. In fact, stretching back to his career with the Texans, Quin has missed just a total of four starts in his entire NFL career—all of which came in his rookie season. Since then, he has started 146 straight games, the longest active streak among safeties by over 60 games and the third longest current streak of all other NFL players.
During his time in Detroit, Quin has led the NFL in interceptions for a season, made the Pro Bowl and been named a second-team All Pro.
And while the Lions haven’t seen the level of success Quin—or any other player—would like, he’s created plenty of memories and will take a moment to reflect and cherish those during Sunday’s game.
“There is some emotional thoughts that I think about, because for the last six years of my life, I’ve played a lot games in there,” Quin said. “I have lot of memories in there, a lot of great moments in there. So when I think about the possibility of it being the last one, it’s like, ‘Whoa, wow.’ It’s a major, major, major thing for me. So I’ll make sure to cherish the moment.”
Of course, nothing is for certain. Though it appears the Lions have Quin’s replacement, Tracy Walker, already starting to take over some of his playing time, Quin remains under contract through the 2019 season, though at a hefty $7.9 million cap hit—only $1.7 of which would be dead money if the Lions were to part ways.
Still, Quin is proud of the work he’s done and the transformation he has seen in the Lions franchise over his six years in Detroit. He admits there is still another level this team needs to reach—specifically not only playing in meaningful games, but winning them—but the change is there.
“I definitely feel like we’ve tried to establish something and we have. We’ve changed the perception of Detroit.”