Kirk Cousins aims to finish career with Falcons, avoid Shaquille O'Neal-like end

Kirk Cousins' move to Atlanta should be the final one of his NFL career.

At least, that's how the 35-year-old quarterback envisions it.

"I want this to be my final stop," Cousins told NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal on the latter's The Big Podcast. "I don't want to do the deal -- no offense -- but I don't want to go play for the Suns and Celtics at the end. I want to go finish with the Heat, if you will, and be done, you know? So, that's really my plan is that I wouldn't play for another team -- I'd finish with the Falcons.

"My boys are 6 and 5, they won't remember that I played in Washington, they will barely remember I played for Minnesota, they're going to remember I played for the Falcons, and I want those to be good memories. So, I feel like this is the stretch I want to finish strong. People remember how you finish more than how you started. So, the start was good, but I want to finish really strong here in Atlanta and have my boys say yeah, 'he may have played for Washington or Minnesota, but we remember him as a Falcon' I want fans to say the same thing."

Cousins mentioned two NBA teams (the Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics) as markers of what was the tail end of O'Neal's NBA career, which began with the Orlando Magic, saw him win three straight titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, win one more with the aforementioned Miami Heat, then spend two seasons with the Phoenix Suns, and one season with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics before calling it a career. Most everyone remembers O'Neal for his time in Orlando, Los Angeles and Miami, while preferring to keep his years in his final three stops in the background.

Cousins hopes fans treat his career similarly, but perhaps in reverse. Most NFL fans today will think of