Last Wednesday, Humphries spoke to the media for the first time a a Chief.
When left tackle D.J. Humphries walked out onto the field at Lincoln Financial Field last New Year’s Eve, his mind was focused on finishing the season strong so that he could head into the offseason on a bright note as he prepared to get ready for what was supposed to be a lucrative contract season in 2024.
Fast forward to the locker room after the game, and Humphries was on crutches with a torn ACL. In his mind, he would always come back from this, but others around the NFL and in the Arizona organization thought otherwise.
“You find out stuff about yourself when you go through stuff like that,” said Humphries while talking to the median at his introductory press conference. “I knew I was a tough guy, but having to go through those things and getting those, ‘Man, you had such a great career,’ and, ‘What a run’…
“It was like, damn, people are just assuming it’s over because I’m hurting… it kind of caught me off guard.”
In response to the doubters of the world, Humphries wanted to make a clear statement.
“People expect me to just, like, tuck it right now,” he said to himself at the time, to which he replied, “Do you not know? My personality must have not shown this is not who I am.”
Humphries used the naysayers to fuel him throughout his rehab.
“I’m a competitor. I’ve never had to prove myself or show anything like that.”
People doubted his comeback was the best thing that could have happened to him; it reignited a thirst and desire to prove everyone wrong within him.
When Humphries was first released by the Cardinals, his first thought was that he needed to explain the situation to his children so that they heard it from him instead of someone at their school.
“I told my kids that your dad’s going to get fired. I’m not going to be on the Cardinals anymore,” said Humphries before his 8-year-old son immediately responded. “‘I really want you to go to Kansas City so you can play with Patrick Mahomes, and you could probably win a Super Bowl.’”
Humphries said that he was taken aback by how automatic his son’s response had been. There is no word on whether Humphries’ 8-year-old son is a mole for Brett Veach and on his Kansas City payroll or not. Regardless, Humphries is here now, and he said there isn’t anywhere he would rather be.
“I’m in Kansas City. I’m pretty ecstatic, you know what I mean? It don’t get much better than this.”
Humphries has full faith in the coaching staff and their ability to put him in the best position to succeed.
“This organization knows what to do with football players and knows where to put them and put them in the roads that they need to be. All I got to do is go out there on the field and be the best version of myself every day, and Andy Reid and coach [Matt] Nagy and (offensive line) coach [Andy] Heck are going to make sure I’m in the right spot where I’m supposed to be and when I’m supposed to be there… I just go out there and block the end till they tell me it’s time to go.”
Humphries also said that his body is healed, and he is ready to go whenever head coach Andy Reid feels he is ready to put him in the lineup.
“Whenever he tells me it’s go time, I’m jumping off.”
While he is here, he plans to help mentor his younger teammates — and specifically offensive tackles Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris.
“When I’m around young players, that’s that’s the role of football,” said Humphries. “That’s how I was brought along with my older vets. Everything that we’ve learned is somebody gave it to us. So it’s my responsibility to make sure I pass it. I can’t let you do something that I know the solution to and keep watching you do it and just keep letting you not know what’s going on.
“That’s not how I was brought up in football. That’s not how my OGs did me in ball. They always pulled me to the side and showed me the game. So that’s that’s what I’m here for. I’m here to pass the game on and make sure I leave it better than I found it.”