Nearing the midpoint of the NFL season, the team with the league’s best record is being paced by a homegrown force in the trenches.
Waianae native and three-time Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner has helped guide the Indianapolis Colts to a 7–1 start as the 30-year-old defensive tackle continues to anchor one of the league’s top units. Indianapolis currently ranks in the NFL top 10 in defensive scoring, rushing yards allowed and takeaways.
Now in his 10th NFL season, Buckner has recorded 71.5 career sacks and this year was named a team captain for the seventh time, an honor he says still carries weight.
“Just having that patch on my chest, I definitely don’t take it for granted,” Buckner said. “I know what it means. I just try to pull as many guys along with me and elevate the guys around me. There’s a standard you have to uphold each and every day coming in to work, and I just try to live up to that standard.”
Buckner is also nearing another milestone, approaching 150 career games played, a mark reached by only seven other players born in Hawaii.
“I honestly did not know that,” he said. “Hearing that makes me reflect on my childhood, the first year I played football, falling in love with it, and getting the opportunity to play in the pros. I don’t take that for granted. This game can be taken away at any point. Anytime you touch the field, go as hard as you can, because you never know which play is going to be your last.”
The Colts face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at 8 a.m. HST.
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