7 things you might not have known about Cardinals LT D.J. Humphries

Arizona Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries has developed into one of the best tackles in the league, although he hasn’t gotten any recognition for it. He was fantastic in 2020 after getting a big contract extension.

The former first-round pick is a leader and he is funny, but there are a few things you probably don’t know about him.

He appeared on the Free Breakfast podcast and covered a whole bunch of topics, from his high schools days to what he has learned from Larry Fitzgerald.

He got expelled in eighth grade

Humphries went to high school in Charlotte but was not originally from there. He was from Union, South Carolina. What took him to Chartlotte was getting kicked out of school in eighth grade for "a little dustup." As a result, he couldn't go to any of the schools in South Carolina. His dad was working in Atlanta, so he went there for a while and was homeschooled before eventually landing in Mallard Creek High School, where he made a name for himself, after his dad's wife got a job in Charlotte.

His dad had to get real with him about basketball

D.J. was a three-sport athlete at Mallard Creek, playing football, basketball and track. He wanted to be a basketball star and his dad had to give him a reality check. "My daddy sat me down one time," he recalled after getting a technical foul in a junior varsity basketball game. "I was acting like I had dropped 30 that night." On the way home, he let him know what was real. "You're carrying yourself all wrong, son," his dad told him. "I understand that you are a good talent on the football field, but you're on a different playing field right now. You're not that same guy that you are on the field, on the court. So if you're not going to lose 50 pounds and learn how to dribble to the left and learn how to pass, you've gotta calm your ass down and focus on football." Humphries didn't like hearing that. "I was real sad because he had basically just told me I was sorry at basketball. I thought I had a future."

He almost quit football in high school over being man an O-lineman

Humphries started out as a defensive end, rushing the passer. "I felt absolutely disrespected. I felt like I was about to be the best defensive player the next year. I had been training all summer. When his head coach told him he was going to move him to tackle, he thought he was going to be a defensive tackle. "It';s cool coach, I'm still going to get sacks. I'm eating on the inside." When his coach corrected him, Humphries said, "Coach, I wear No. 9. I can't wear No. 9 at tackle."

His coach laughed in his face. "You can wear 79 if that will make you feel better." He went home and tried to tell his dad he was going to transfer, which is dad quashed because it wasn't an option. Humphries asked his dad what they were going to do then. "Well, you're probably going to play tackle if you want to play football," he told him. His dad showed him what top tackles were making in the NFL at the time. That convinced him. "Now looking back on it, I was trippin'," he said.

When he declared for the draft early, he was told he would go undrafted

Underclassmen have to apply for the draft and then the NFL gives them back a draft grade. When Humphries did so, he got back an undrafted grade. It was because of his size. He was too light to be a good tackle in the NFL. He moved well, but teams didn't know if he could move that well at over 300. He didn't care and went to training. He thought that even making some money as an undrafted rookie would be enough. It paid off.

"When I got th Pensacola to train for the combine I was 271," he said. "I weighed in at the combine at 308. They had me looking like a damn action figure." His combine performance changed everything. "When I went to combine and 'ate it,' I went from not being drafted to a top-five tackle," he said.

The Cardinals wanted him to play right tackle as a rookie

Humphries ended up never even dressing his entire rookie season. It wasn't necessarily the plan. He didn't want to and didn't prepare for it. "I trained that whole combine to be a left tackle and I was cocky," he said. "I was like, 'I'm a left tackle. I ain't no (expletive) right tackle and ain't being no swing." However, the Cardinals told him he was going to play right tackle because they had just paid Jared Veldheer a lot of money to play the left side.

Rookie camp was bad. He could not block rookie pass rusher Markus Golden, the Cardinals' second-round pick that year. So they moved him to right tackle. That season was when starting tackle Bobby Massie was suspended the first two games because of a DUI. Earl Watford started those two games. Had Humphries been prepared to play the right side, he might have started that year.

Larry Fitzgerald didn't talk to him as rookie

We wrote about this separately, but Humphries recalled when the legendary receiver first talked to him. It was in his second year when he was getting breakfast. Fitzgerald told him he didn't talk to him all the previous year because he was mad at him. He was disappointed in a first-round pick not being ready. Fitz told him the team was depending on him in his second season. That set him straight and led to his getting things right.

He and Fitzgerald have a great relationship now

While that first interaction was eye-opening for Humphries, they are close now. "Larry has taught me so much on and off the field," Humphries said. Fitzgerald got Humphries the opportunity to meet Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He taught him not to just toss his paystubs — which keep all his personnel information — into the trash. He taught Humphries that creating a family business is better for the future of the family than jus leaving a chunk of money. As a result, Humphries has a business. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify. Latest show:

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