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Justin Houston realizes not many players get to the conference championship game

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston has been around for a while, but he’s never been exactly in this place before.

Houston, 30, is now in his eighth season with the Chiefs. He was there for the bad times at the beginning of his career. In his rookie season, the Chiefs went 5-8 before head coach Todd Haley was fired in 2011 to be replaced by defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, who stayed at the helm for the disastrous 2-14 season that followed.

But he’s been there for some good times, too — including the amazing 2013 turnaround under new head coach Andy Reid, when the team started 9-0 on the way to an 11-5 record and a berth in the playoffs — and Houston’s remarkable 2014 season, where he notched 22 sacks to lead the NFL.