during a segment about Dak Prescott on July 10 that he still feels very deep regret about leaving Philadelphia.
In fact, the 2-time All-Pro running back stated that he’d give up both of his Super Bowl rings to have played for only the Eagles.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I’d trade all that stuff I done did to give it back just to be with the Eagles and get that one championship,” said McCoy on “Speak” on FS1.
LeSean McCoy Says Leaving Philadelphia Eagles Still Haunts Him
The end of McCoy’s tenure with the Eagles was a controversial time in the franchise’s recent history. After the Andy Reid firing following the 2017 season, and the Eagles then hired college head coach Chip Kelly.
McCoy excelled in Kelly’s offense, leading the NFL in rushing with 1,607 yards in 2013. He then ran for 1,319 yards during 2014.
But the next offseason, Kelly, who began assuming more power in player personnel decisions, traded McCoy to the Buffalo Bills. That offseason, the Eagles also moved quarterback Nick Foles for Sam Bradford.
McCoy shared that the unloading of Eagles stars that offseason is something that he still thinks about, and even “haunts” him to this day.
“All our teammates that were there were there, the top dudes, we should have stayed there because we had a real good team that we bonded together, right?” McCoy told the panel on “Speak”. “And that’s something even now with Mr. Lurie, the owner, we’re still tight. Every once in a while I bring it up because it’s something that’s always going to haunt me for the rest of my life.”
McCoy made it clear that he enjoyed his time with the Bills. He recorded a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons in Buffalo.
But McCoy said for the first year with the Bills, even putting on the uniform felt “awkward.”
McCoy’s Strong Connection to Pennsylvania
McCoy undoubtably loved the Eagles and still does. But a big part of why he still wishes he would have stayed in Philadelphia his entire career is his deep roots to Pennsylvania.
“I’m a Philadelphia Eagle,” McCoy said on FS1. “That’s who I am. … When they let me go, I was like, ‘What do you want the player to do?’”
McCoy was born and attended Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He then played college football at Pitt.
McCoy received the chance to stay in Pennsylvania after the Eagles drafted him at No. 53 overall during the second round in the 2009 NFL draft.
In 12 NFL seasons, McCoy rushed for 11,102 yards, which is just behind O.J. Simpson for 22nd most in league history. Although he spent just half of his career with the Eagles, McCoy ran for 6,792 yards while averaging 4.6 yards per carry in Philadelphia.
McCoy remains the Eagles’ all-time leading rusher.
