 For a few years I guess since you were in a Super Bowl and things didn't necessarily go all that great last time around. How much have you been kind of chopping a bit to get another chance just to get back to the big game again? Right now, you know, I'm just focusing on the Kansas City Chiefs doing what I can do to help our teams get better. Got to win your next game and this is the most important game right now, the AFC Championship. First an explosive team with a bunch of guys that can, you know, spread the field. That's our only challenge right now that we're worried about. In your room specifically, you have a lot of young guys. How much pride do you take in the fact that they're all contributing in a big way? It means a lot man. You know, when Jion goes down, we have David that can step up. You know, we're sons out there flying around, you know, myself out there. We got base leading in charge of a special team and I think we just have to continue as LBs to understand what's at stake here. You know, come in to work every week, get better, you know, challenge ourselves to do those little things correct and continue to lead. And you know, I think that spreads throughout the team. Whenever a linebacker makes a big play, it unites people just like every other position as well. But as us for linebackers, we look at this as a leading moment and something that we can put our stamp on. What is the next leadership extended beyond the offense? It's a whole team thing now. How much have you seen in his evolution as a leader? Oh man, D'Hen, you know, the thing about D'Hen, I really feel like he's been that way, you know, I wouldn't say his first year here. He was kind of, you know, trying to fill his way as a Ricky, but to see him, you know, grow, get confidence in himself and understand that like, hey man, if you're D'Henry, if you say something, your words going to go a lot farther than any coach in the locker room would go. So he realizes that power and he's been, you know, understanding, you know, that leadership role comes with playing as well as he's been playing. And I think he's, you know, stepped up and he's carrying the ball very well and he can speak those words that go along with. How have you been through this process? What are some of the nuggets or words of wisdom you could impart to your teammates from a perspective standpoint? Yeah, just stay the same. Staying the same routine. I know you're going to get pulled from a lot of different directions. Family members, I'm sure, are going to be hitting people up for tickets. Old people are going to be sending a lot of text messages, but just do the same thing. You know, taking care of your body. Staying locked in because only one thing that matters and that's winning the next game. And that's the only thing that really counts. But especially against the Chiefs in the past, helping all this week, at least from a confidence standpoint, knowing that you've been there before and won? You know, I can honestly say regular season don't mean a thing once you get into the playoffs. And, you know, the game plan hasn't been set up or hasn't been really talked about yet, but I'm sure, you know, it's going to be some changes on their side and I'm sure some changes on our side as well. But you never know, man. I think the most important thing is whoever fights the hardest and whoever goes out there and hits it and runs the fastest is going to be the team that wins. What have you seen in David Long's improvement so far this year? You know, man, an excited player to watch. He goes out there with a lot of fire, a lot of fuel and makes big plays. And that's something that he's been asked to do to step up and make big plays. And that's what he goes out there and does. As a special teams captain, for years you've worked with guys on the back end of the roster. This team seems to get more out of 53 than anybody. What have you seen from the purple lines in half? There's no man on the back side of the roster. If I give what you're saying, special team guys aren't usually your starters that's going out there and playing, but our team has definitely done a good job of stepping up, you know, trying to get playmakers in every aspect of the game. You know, we sometimes draw up things for certain players to be successful and I think guys realize the challenge at hand. Like, you know, I want to be the guy that coaches circling on a game plan. I want to go out there and make those plays. I want to be the Darren Banks, the Dan Kirkshanks, you know, the Caloos out there. So guys that are stepping up, they want to be the guys that's looked at it being made plays. What was the feeling that you had envisioned this moment here back then? Every day you come into this office is to get to the main goal at hand and, you know, that's winning the last game of the season. I understand that two and four, we were a team that, you know, we really understand like, man, we could be a great team, but we're missing something. We're not doing something right. And I think it took a collective buying from everybody in this building and this organization to understand what we have at hand and how to get us out of the dumps at two and four. And, you know, man, hats off to my teammates and coaches in this building and, you know, we didn't look back, man. We just wanted to continue to get better every week. And that's been our challenge. Be better than we were the previous week. How big was Mike Brable's role in pulling out of two and four? Obviously, there was the decision to change a quarterback, but what has he done particularly in just his second year? Man, you know, having coach, man, he's a huge motivator for us, man. He goes out there, sets things the right way, but most importantly, you know, he's running a team. You know, he's setting up everything, telling us what to do in the game plan. So we're just continuing to buy into his words. And as leaders, that's where it comes to being great coaches and great leaders. Everybody buys in and gets the same message. And I think that's something that he's been able to do here. Everybody's on the same page. There's no splintering. You know, every message is the same. And that's something that you can really lean on as a leader because there's no fault or no shifts when it comes to the message. Basically everybody who's got up here today has said it's just the next game. It's just another game. But as a guy who's actually been on this stage and played in a championship game before, is the AFC championship just another game? It is. It is. And I honestly can say that with everything being true. Of course the stage is a little elevated, more media, more TV coverage. But I think once you start looking at it as if, oh, it's the AFC championship game or it's the Super Bowl, that's where you get kind of blindsided by the effects that can go on in the game. But if you approach it just like you approach the other games in the regular season, continue to work hard. Continue to dial into the game plan. Be focused. Do what I've been doing the whole season to get my body right. You can step in there and just play free. You stress the guys? I don't want you talking about Super Bowl. I don't want you to even mention the word this week or how do you go about making sure guys are locked in when you know what's on the other side? When you step in here and every workday this week, you can't get to somewhere without taking care of business first. You can't walk outside of your house unless you open up the door. So this is the first step and the only step that we have to make sure that we get taken care of because this is the only game that really matters right now. A little bit challenging for you at all with this year. Still playing the role of the leader, despite your role in the field, getting pulled back a little bit from what you're used to? You know man, every season has a season and one thing about me is I'm going to continue to be a leader, a great leader inside and outside of the locker room and I think that's where character, my character is too strong to let anything determine me for being the man that I am. Right now it's called upon me to be a great leader in the locker room and help my younger guys be better players, better men on and off the football field and I take that role very seriously and I think my younger team has realized that too because I've been there, I've made those plays before now it's time to in this season show these guys exactly what they need to do and help them out with any stresses that they have. Couple guys said after we named the other night that this is as close or closer of a team that they've ever been a part of. You've been a part of a bunch of teams and really good ones. Do you see that and how important is that especially this time of year? Yeah, you can see the Conradery Shield building all the way from back from training camp. Just guys always want to stay around and of course it's like that in every locker room every year you can say the same thing but I really saw a tighter bond and I think it's our younger core guys they understand it like they need each other to be successful in order for them to be successful so you can get your younger side of the roster to understand that and start living like veterans early in their career that's when the future is going to be really bright. Nine and seven year for you guys in a row but I wonder even before the playoffs started maybe towards the second half of this year did you see fans start getting more excited about this team maybe because of the offense the entertainment level than in past years at all? Yeah, I think we have a great fan base we just got to continue to win it always makes winning makes everybody be more excited and be more amped in I think we have one of the greatest fan bases that could be potentially a powerhouse in the NFL, a very feared fan base and we have a lot of great support we had a lot of great fans here the other night Jim and Jane are always here we have some super fans and we just want to continue to do the great things in this city man and it really takes a whole organization and a whole city to win the championship and that's what we have to focus on being together is one