After the 2022 season concluded, some wondered if Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum would retire. He was finishing his 11th NFL season and is 33 years old. He played and started in all 17 games last season for Arizona.
That speculation never came from him. He never considered retiring.
“There was never a doubt in my mind that I was going to continue playing,” he said on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast this week. “There are still some things I need to prove, still some goals and aspirations that I want to be able to accomplish and I haven’t been able to do those things yet.”
Beachum is proud of the fact that, as a former seventh-round pick and the last offensive lineman selected in the 2012 draft, he has played as long as he has.
What are some of his goals? He wants to play in a Super Bowl. He wants to continue to compete and start.
The Super Bowl goal is interesting because he chose to re-sign with the Cardinals, who are projected to win the fewest games in the league in 2023 right now.
He knows “those things take time.”
When Beachum appeared on my podcast, he told me he was thinking about playing four of five more years.
“More than anything, I’m in love with the process,” he said.
Players know it is time to move on when they don’t feel the desire to put in the work it requires to play at the highest level. That is not the issue for Beachum.
“I enjoy the process of getting ready to play football,” he said.
Playing on Sundays is “icing on the cake.”
Beachum is projected to start at right tackle for the Cardinals for a fourth straight season in 2023.
Maybe he can play long enough to see this team get to where he would like to play — in the big game.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
