Entering his 10th NFL season, Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil wants a Super Bowl title more than ever.
His former team, the Broncos, won Super Bowl 50 in February. The Ravens won the Super Bowl the season before Dumervil joined them in 2013.
At age 32, Dumervil knows his opportunities are dwindling.
“Hopefully this is the right year,” said Dumervil during a Friday appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“That’s all you want to play for. Financially you’ve been blessed. If you’re able to play more than 10 years, obviously you have a good body of work that you’ve been doing. At this point, you know, the window is nearing down. You know you’re not going to play 20 or 30 years, especially at our position. The Super Bowl is the most desirable situation, no doubt.”
Dumervil said he had no regrets about leaving the Broncos and signing with the Ravens as a free agent in 2013.
“It’s been great,” said Dumervil, who has 96 career sacks. “It starts from the owner (Steve Bisciotti), first-class organization. The fans are awesome, great teammates. The working environment is excellent. It’s a great place and I’m very happy.”
After playing through foot pain last season, Dumervil had offseason surgery. He is expected to be ready at some point during training camp, and he looks forward to reuniting with linebacker Terrell Suggs, who missed the 2015 season after an Achilles injury suffered in Week 1.
When Dumervil and Suggs were healthy in 2014, they combined for 29 sacks – the top sack tandem in the NFL.
Dumervil only had six sacks last season, and admitted he was impacted but not having Suggs as his sack partner.
“It’s a big blow man, just his presence, great teammate,” Dumervil said. “His presence is always felt. Obviously as his partner in crime, when you don’t have another guy taking up double-teams, it makes it a little more complicated for you as a pass rusher. Getting him back healthy, he’s looking good, he’s looking to come back strong. So we’re excited.”
Few people are predicting special things from the Ravens following a 5-11 season, but Dumervil plans on using that to his advantage.
“That’s motivation,” Dumervil said. “We got to get that (to) 11-5, or better.”