Glover Quin is a humble guy. Maybe traditional is a better fit.
In an era where athletes live lavish lifestyles and drop thousands upon thousands of dollars on seemingly meaningless items, Quin, a former North Pike standout, was just happy to get a shot in the NFL four years ago.
So even when he received his first big contract Wednesday afternoon after he inked a five-year, $23.9 million contract with the Detroit Lions, his attitude remained the same.
“I’m not a guy who plays for money. I play for the respect of the game and the respect of my peers. I feel like when you’re playing that way, the money comes along with it,” Quin told the Enterprise-Journal on Wednesday during a phone interview. “I feel like a lot of guys play for the money, they get lost in the money and they don’t play to earn the money. It feels good to go out and put a body of work in for four years and be rewarded for what I’ve done. I’m humbled by the whole experience and thankful for the opportunity.”
Quin, who earned just $565,000 in 2012 in the final year of his rookie contract, flew to Detroit on Tuesday and met with team officials before making his decision Wednesday. Despite being one of the top safeties in this years free agent class, Houston failed to even make an official offer to Quin, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.
With the heightened interest from Detroit and the inability to work out a deal with Houston, Quin’s decision was simplified.
“You get to the point where you can express how much you want a player or things like that. But just to let everyone know, you show someone how much you want somebody when you’re willing to reward them and pay them for their effort,” said Quin, who accumulated 314 total tackles with the Texans. “We basically couldn’t come to an agreement with the Texans, so we moved on.”
Houston’s loss is Detroit’s gain, however. The Lions hardly lack offensive firepower with quarterback Matthew Stafford, who threw for nearly 5,000 yards in 2012, and Calvin Johnson, who broke a single-season record with 1,964 receiving yards in 2012, but have always been plagued on the defensive side of the ball.
Quin hopes to bring leadership and an edge to a struggling Detroit defense. The Lions were in the bottom of the league in scoring defense (27.3 points per game).
“Obviously they have a lot of pieces on defense and offense … I’m just happy to come in and try and contribute to the defense and win games,” he said. “I’m not trying to come in and turn the whole organization around or anything like that. I’m just trying to play my part and do what I was brought in to do.”
Detroit did lose free agent defensive end Cliff Avril to Seattle on Wednesday but re-signed cornerback Chris Houston to a five-year deal in hopes of solidifying the secondary.
“There are a couple things that we look for in a safety and Glover hits all of those,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said Wednesday at Quin’s introductory press conference. “He’s a guy that played corner in college ... and as physical as he played, the first thing that came to mind is: this is a guy that can make the move to safety.”
The Texans originally drafted Quin in the fourth round of the 2009 draft out of New Mexico as a cornerback. He later moved to safety and spent the past two years there, where he racked up 161 total tackles, 23 pass deflections and two interceptions.
His durability was also a key factor in his payday, having started all 16 games in each of the past three seasons.
In a division where Detroit faces a variety of offenses — the passing attacks of Green Bay and Chicago and the running game of Minnesota and 2012 MVP Adrian Peterson — Quin’s versatility is what made him so highly sought-after.
“Nowadays, because the way the game is going and with spread offenses, having a guy that is versatile and can do different things, it helps,” he said. “It worked to my advantage to be versatile and flexible.”
Quin’s next task will be to figure out how to get his parents, Glover Sr. and Annie, from McComb to his games. Both made the short trip to Houston for every home game, but Detroit is much farther away.
“My mom was excited,” Quin said. “Obviously I’m moving farther away, so it’ll be a little tougher for them to come out to the games like they did in Houston.”
It also marks a new opportunity for his wife and children, who will make the move from Texas out to Detroit.
“This will be the next chapter of our life,” he said. “It’s a new experience for them to move to a different part of the world they’ve never seen.”
