Trent McDuffie has found love for football again after trade from Chiefs to Rams blindsided him

Trent McDuffie was blindsided by the business side of football when he was traded from the Chiefs to the Rams.

He’s found joy in Los Angeles.

"Being able to come in here and have a head coach like Sean McVay, who you know truly cares and has so much love for you, and he’s up there having 45-minute team meetings, talking ball, giving you little nuggets here and there, I’ve truly embraced this culture and I feel like I’ve really flourished in what has been a part about being a Ram, and I just love football again,” McDuffie said on the AP’s “On Football” podcast.

“That’s something that I’m really excited talking about. It’s like when you get traded, all this craziness happens. You go to a new team, new city, what’s happening, the unknown. And now that I am here, and just knowing how much fun I’ve had, seeing how much I’ve grown just in this little amount of time being a part of this team and this coaching staff, I have a lot of gratitude toward these guys being able to pick me up and kind of welcome me in.”

McDuffie went to the Super Bowl in each of his first three seasons in the NFL, winning two while establishing himself as one of the league’s best slot cornerbacks. He was an All-Pro in 2023 and was set for a big contract extension when the Chiefs traded him to the Rams in March for four draft picks, including a first-round choice in April.

The Rams gave him a $124 million, four-year deal that briefly made him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.

Los Angeles also added two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and saw three-time NFL DPOY Aaron Donald come out of retirement to join a stacked team that’s favored to win the Super Bowl. They also signed cornerback Jaylen Watson, who played with McDuffie on the Chiefs.

McDuffie knows what it’s like to play for a team that has high expectations. It was Super Bowl or bust in Kansas City every year.

“I think everybody knows the term: ‘control what you can control,’” he said. “I think that’s really big, especially now with all the hype, all the outside noise, everything that people want to put this expectation on us. I think it’s really on us, especially as leaders and vets to kind of show these guys what it’s like to come into each and every day and be consistent in your craft, not worrying about the game ahead, the game in two or three weeks, like truly coming in each and every day and just buying into what we’re going to do today, whether it’s practice, whether it is lift, whether it’s going out there and having a walkthrough, like being mentally locked in is something that I learned from the Chiefs, guys like Pat Mahomes and Travis Kelce that have played many years and have been so successful.

“I’ve seen them just do the little things each and every day and never miss. And like for me, that was huge as a young guy to see these Hall of Famers, these guys who have done everything, really just focus on like the little details each and every day, just be consistent at that and see how that stacks throughout the year.”

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, McDuffie sought ways to help in the community. His T22 McDuffie Foundation, founded in honor of his older brother Tyler, empowers youth navigating grief and loss to build connection, find strength, and discover the power to overcome through creativity, movement and a community built for healing.

Last month, when the Rams launched the inaugural Inglewood Unified Flag Football League, McDuffie went to the event and donated backpacks to all participants in the program.

“I’m big believer in it’s like, let’s just get outside, let’s throw the football around, whether it’s football, whether it is baseball, whatever you do, let’s just get out the house for a few hours,” he said. “I think video games and social media and everybody’s so locked in on their phones. Let’s just put it down for a a few hours, go have some fun. It was a cool experience.”

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