FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Demario Davis was ready to quit football in 2016. He was only 27, but every joint in his body ached. By midseason, the pain was unbearable.
It was his lone year with the Cleveland Browns, where they finished 1-15 -- which only added to the anguish. Desperate for relief, he couldn't wait for the season to end.
"My body was just -- I was done, and I was ready to hang it up," he said recently.
Davis, now back with the New York Jets, who drafted him in the third round in 2012, was sitting in an office at the team's facility, having just completed an offseason practice in preparation for his 15th season. He's 37 now, with strands of gray in his thick beard, but he exudes the energy of a rookie, with one of his personal trainers saying he has the body of a 24-year-old.