Not ‘Knee Deep’ anymore. Former Mallard Creek star named Arizona Cardinals captain
Five years ago, when he was a rookie, Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians questioned DJ Humphries’ desire.
Arians gave the former Mallard Creek star a nickname, “Knee Deep.” Arians said that in order to motivate Humphries to play hard, he had to put “a knee in his (butt) every day. A foot wasn’t going to do it, so I nicknamed him ‘knee deep.’”
The nickname stuck publicly and bothered Humphries, who has admitted he wasn’t as mature and didn’t play as hard as he needed to during that time.
But Humphries, 27, also said the nickname made him mad — and determined. And his play has shown it.
In 2016, Humphries started at right tackle. In 2017, he moved to left tackle and has stayed there. This summer, he signed a three-year contract extension worth up to nearly $44 million (including $29 million guaranteed).
And last week, Humphries was named one of the eight team captains for Arizona, which opens the season at San Francisco on Sunday.
“I want as many people that (were) writing about me, calling me ‘knee deep’ to remember to write about me and call me ‘captain’ now,” Humphries said during a Zoom interview with reporters this week. “All those that had the same energy with that ‘knee deep,’ remember to call me captain now.”
In high school at Mallard Creek, Humphries was a five-star All-American who did not allow a sack for the final three years of his high school career. He was the No. 1 offensive tackle in the class of 2011, according to Rivals.com. Humphries played in college at Florida and was the No. 24 overall pick by the Cardinals in the 2015 NFL draft.
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This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 10:29 AM.
