jason-pierre-paul-bucs.jpg

Some journeys are easy and some are difficult, and then there's the one Jason Pierre-Paul walked to return to the height of professional football. When he steps on the field to try and help Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hang a loss on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday in Super Bowl LV, it'll be the second appearance in The Big Game of his 11-year career but, more to the point, it's one he probably never thought would happen for him again. The road to return to Super Bowl Sunday has been one that could've ended his career on more than one occasion, but didn't.

"Take everything in," Pierre-Paul told media this week, via the Associated Press. "Tomorrow is not promised. Super Bowl is not promised for next year. It took me nine years to get back to this point." 

Pierre-Paul was the toast of the New York Giants defense following the 2014 season, one in which he racked up 12.5 sacks -- the second-most in his career behind only his 2011 season (16.5) -- leading to a franchise tag while he and the Giants attempted to negotiate a long-term deal. He'd suffer a catastrophic accident four months later, however, in a fireworks mishap at his home that resulted in his right hand being permanently disfigured and his right index finger completely amputated. 

Super Bowl LV is almost here, and you can watch it for free on the CBS Sports App.

He'd return to the field mid-season but was forced to adapt his rush techniques due to the presence of a club on his injured hand, going on to finish the 2015 season with a career-worst one sack. He'd bounce back the following year with seven sacks, eight pass break ups and a defensive touchdown, after undergoing another procedure that allowed him to switch from the club to a specialized glove but landed on injured reserve later in the 2016 season due to a sports hernia that required surgery to repair. He was franchise tagged a second time thereafter before signing a four-year deal with the Giants in 2017, but that would turn out to be the last year he'd spend in New York.

Pierre-Paul was traded to the Buccaneers in 2018 and produced 12.5 sacks in 16 games played, but more tumult awaited. He was involved in a car accident in 2019 that caused a fracture in his neck and jeopardized his entire season before he was finally able to return to the field later in the year. The Bucs weren't willing to let go of his talent and signed him to a two-year, $27 million contract in 2020, and now he's trying to help Brady -- whom he helped cost a ring in Super Bowl XLVI -- land a seventh when the Chiefs roll into town.

"I been through a lot and the things I go through, I just stick with happy thoughts," Pierre-Paul said. "My father was blind at age of [approximately 30], and me being born and he having to look after me when my mom was working. He never quit. To this day he's still happy and joyful, and happy I am in another Super Bowl."

The 32-year-old knows all about adversity and what it takes to overcome it, along with taking nothing for granted in the process.

"To those people who are facing something -- six years ago I went through a hand injury, fireworks injury. Last year I had a broken neck. People say you can't do it because they can't do it. But you put your mind to it, you can do whatever you want to do in life. It's easier said than done, but I never quit on anything in life. 

"I am going to give everything I can until [I] can't."