National Football League: Column
Justin Houston walks with a swagger toward the next part of his career. Things will be different now, whether he accepts it. He is more past than future, more established than rising.
By the time this season is over, he will have made more than $80 million in his career, a total boosted by bungled timing from the Chiefs in waiting until he had recorded his franchise-record 22-sack season in 2014 to negotiate a long-term deal.
Houston is approaching his 30th birthday, which is young in virtually all walks of life except professional football. It is likely that only four members of the Chiefs 53-man roster will be that old in 2018. One will be the punter. Another the backup quarterback.
