Former Cardinals Captain Speaks on Release

Now in Kansas City, D.J. Humphries is excited for a fresh start.
Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle D.J. Humphries (74) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle D.J. Humphries (74) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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ARIZONA -- Former Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle D.J. Humphries hasn't played for the organization - or football in general - in nearly a year after suffering a torn ACL in Week 17 of the 2023 season.

The injury was soon followed by his release from Arizona as the Cardinals saved millions by cutting him the following offseason, making him a free agent while his rehab process began.

Fast-forward to present day, where Humphries is now on the Kansas City Chiefs and figures to be a good fit in their puzzle in what is sure to be another deep playoff push.

Humphries recently met with Kansas City reporters and offered the following on his transition from Arizona:

"I'm gonna be honest with you, when I first got released, I told my kids," Humphries said via Chiefs on SI.

"I told my kids, 'Dad's going to get fired. I'm not going to be on the Cardinals anymore.' I didn't even know how to explain it to them, just to kind of give them a heads up before they went to school and their friends are telling them. My son didn't even know the magnitude of football and all that stuff, but he goes to school and he finds out what's going on like that, you know? I wanted to give him a heads up.

"My son, Dash, immediately no batting [of] an eyelash, didn't care about me getting released. 'I really want you to go to Kansas City so you can play with Patrick Mahomes and probably win a Super Bowl.' I was like, 'Yeah, son, thank you!' He didn't have a care about what was going on. His automatic mind was like, 'You should go to the Chiefs.'"

It sounds like there's no hard feelings between Humphries and the Cardinals following his release.

"Man, it's been interesting," Humphries said. "It's been, how you say, you find out stuff about yourself when you go through stuff like that. I knew I was a tough guy already but having to go through those things and getting those, 'Man, you had such a great career. What a run!' those texts were really trying for me. It was like, damn, people are just assuming it's over because I'm hurt. That was probably the toughest part."

Now, he'll get an opportunity to prove those doubters wrong.


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Donnie Druin
DONNIE DRUIN

Donnie Druin is the Publisher for All Cardinals and Inside The Suns. Donnie moved to Arizona in 2012 and has been with Fan Nation since 2018. In college he won "Best Sports Column" in the state of Arizona for his section and has previously provided coverage for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona State Sun Devils. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin for more news, updates, analysis and more!