Arizona Cardinals center A.Q. Shipley has made it through nine years in the NFL. At age 33 and coming off a torn ACL, he knows the end of his career is coming. However, despite suffering through the disappointment of a lost season in 2018, the time off might actually extend his career.
“My body feels as good as it has been,” he said after practice last week during organized team activities. “It’s a year less hitting on the joints, the shoulders, all that stuff. My feet and ankles, we got some things cleaned up that maybe were bothering me over the last nine years, that when you’re in the heat of battle, you can’t really take that time off.”
When he spoke of his feet and ankles, he did not have any surgery. It was just rest that allowed him to feel better.
“I feel good,” he said. “I’ve gotten a new little lease on a couple of more years hopefully.”
He is signed through 2019. He has beaten the odds for years in the league. A seventh-round pick with arms that are too short, he now enters his 10th season.
Not a bad career at all.
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