<
>

Entering ninth season, LeSean McCoy confident he won't slow down

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- No player has more rushing yards than LeSean McCoy since he entered the NFL in 2009 as a second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. Over his eight-year career, McCoy has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times and won the NFL's rushing title in 2013.

As McCoy enters his third season with the Buffalo Bills, he has become one of the league's elder statesmen at his position. Only three active running backs -- the Colts' Frank Gore, the Saints' Adrian Peterson and the Jets' Matt Forte -- have more career rushes than McCoy, who turns 29 in July.

McCoy hosted his fourth annual celebrity softball game Sunday, an event that raises money for his charitable foundation and its efforts to fight ALS. He sat down with ESPN to discuss his legacy off the field, as well as some of his on-field goals -- winning a Super Bowl and being selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

Q: How do you think people will remember you in the community?

McCoy: I think people will remember me just how I am: a hard worker on the field, but also off the field I’m a good person. I’m constantly trying to give back to the community. What I do with my foundation, Shades of Greatness, a lot of the money we try to give to the ALS Association to try to find a cure. I lost my grandmother from that. But there’s tons of things we do with the different holidays, from Pennsylvania to Buffalo, providing shelter, food, clothing, supplies for kids at school, you name it. We do everything.

Q: What do you think your legacy will be as a player?

McCoy: Well, I’m not done yet. I’m not done at all. I feel young still. I’ve been one of the best backs in the league since I got in the league. That hasn’t changed. But now I need to win. I want to put that stamp on it, get a championship. This is the place to do it at, I think, with the new coaching staff and the players we have. It would help out my legacy, it really would, to get some more wins.

Q: You turn 29 in July. How much football do you have left in you?

McCoy: I’m still young. The way I play, you see people look at these numbers for running backs -- carries, and all that -- I play different. I set myself up for right now because I know with my style of play, I can play for a long time because I don’t take many blows. You’re not going to see me slow down. It’s one of those things where you need to prove yourself. When you talk about running backs and age, I like it because it’s a challenge. Since I’ve been in the league, I’ve always had to compete and prove people wrong. Now it’s not critics and it’s more just myself. I have to go against myself.

Q: How are you and other older running backs such as Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore and Matt Forte able to play at a high level later in their careers?

McCoy: I like all those guys. AP, Forte. Even a guy like Gore, he’s still holding his own. Making good money still, making plays, giving his team a chance to win. I see myself in that same light. There’s different things I want to accomplish in terms of winning and one day getting a championship. I’ve done a lot since being a kid in high school. I never got a state championship. In college, I got a lot of numbers but never won a championship. Now that I’m in the NFL, that’s the next thing that I’m waiting to get.

Q: How much do you anticipate changing your running style as you get into the later stages of your career?

McCoy: I’ve changed a little bit now. I look back at a lot of my old tape. I was a big shake guy -- stop on a dime, cut and jerk. Now, every once in a while, I’ll jerk and shake. But I’m running more now. I feel like I’m more just hitting it. I think a lot of my explosion plays last year, a lot of them were just hitting it -- boom. Sometimes I got to dancing. Sometimes I would dance to get out of trouble. That’s just talent. But I’m more focused on just being a student of the game and letting experience take over more than the talent. I’ve been doing that, I feel like. So I’ve changed in certain ways. The good thing is I haven’t changed because of the physical part. More changed the mental part.

Q: You have 8,954 career rushing yards, and you’ve used the hashtag "#10kchase" on social media in reference to surpassing 10,000 yards. What would doing that mean to you?

McCoy: I’m gonna get that. I’m gonna get 10,000. I’m chasing for 12,000. I’ll pick up 10,000 on the way, but I want the 12,000. Of the 15 running backs all time with 12,000 yards, only two are not in the Hall of Fame: Edgerrin James, who should definitely get in, and Frank Gore, who is still active.

Q: How much do you think 12,000 yards would secure your own case for the Hall of Fame?

McCoy: There’s not a lot of people that haven't done it with 12,000 yards. That’s something I’m shooting for. I always try to find ways to keep me motivated, keep me focused, keep me going. From championships to individual goals, you got to put that in there to make you strive for it so you have something to train for, something to work for. And also, my son is 5 years old. I want him to grow up and brag that his dad is LeSean “Shady” McCoy. There’s things I look forward to doing.

Q: You won a rushing title in 2013. How much would it mean to you to do it again this season?

McCoy: I think it’s possible with the new offense we have. It is really, really good. But also I think back then, it was important to get a rushing title. Now, as long as I’m productive and our offense is productive, and we’re winning, it’s the same thing. Now I’m learning people can feed off me just from running.