COSTA MESA, CA — There is a famous line in the Oscar Award winning film Jerry McGwire, that said “show me the money!”. In the case of Chargers center Mike Pouncey, his focus is just a little bit different than most players. On Tuesday, Pouncey signed a one-year extension this week for $9 million, although Pouncey could’ve gotten more from another team, he’s firmly planted in Los Angeles.
“It wasn’t about money,” Pouncey said. “I got a s*** ton of money. When it came down to it, it wasn’t about money to me. It was about finding the right fit and being somewhere where me and my family are happy, and this is the place.
“At this point in my career, this team gives me the best chance to win. I built a relationship with a lot of the guys on the team, and for me to want to leave here at Year 10 and go somewhere else and start all over, it just didn’t make any sense to me no matter what the number was in salary.”
Pouncey was voted a team captain by his teammates on Wednesday along with Philip Rivers, Brandon Mebane, Thomas Davis and Melvin Ingram.
Another incentive could be that Pouncey never forgot how the Miami Dolphins treated him when they released him questioning if he still had enough left in the tank and could he lead a team.
“The only thing that had me kinda pissed off about the Dolphins releasing me was the story line that was out there,” he said. “They were kinda changing culture, and I didn’t have anybody come out and back me up as, ‘Pouncey, he was different. He was a leader. It was a money thing for him.’
“I wanted to come here and prove that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Rivers is comfortable to know Pouncey will be with the team until the end of the 2020 season at least.
