{"id":975739,"date":"2026-08-02T13:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/975739\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:20:15","slug":"i-try-to-motivate-how-khalil-mack-impacts-chargers-teammates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/975739\/","title":{"rendered":"“I try to motivate’: How Khalil Mack impacts Chargers teammates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A tempting life as a full-time family man nearly pulled Khalil Mack<\/a> away from football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was leaning towards coming back the whole time,\u201d Mack said of mulling retirement before signing a one-year, $18-million contract in March to remain with the Chargers<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s just considering the stage of life my kids are at, that balance of being a dad and a husband but still trying to follow the dream. I feel like I\u2019m still in a position to do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

The future Hall of Famer decided the show must go on.<\/p>\n

And now, with championship aspirations entering his 13th season, and fifth in Los Angeles, Mack is basking in his role as the Chargers\u2019 elder statesman.<\/p>\n

\u201cPriceless,\u201d defensive coordinator Chris O\u2019Leary<\/a> said of the 35-year-old outside linebacker\u2019s presence. \u201cHe\u2019s the flag bearer of our culture on defense. He leads the way with his actions. \u2026 When it\u2019s time for him to say something, he\u2019s going to say something.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a group of young edges in that room that all they\u2019re doing is watching everything he does [and] listening to everything he says. It\u2019s more valuable than anything I can say or do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chargers <\/p>\n

IChargers linebacker Khalil Mack embraces one of his son on the sideline before a game against the Raiders at SoFi Stadium last season.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the 2016 defensive player of the year. He has nine Pro Bowl selections and three All-Pro nods under his belt. And 113 sacks to his name.<\/p>\n

Mack, despite coming off an injury-riddled down year, has never needed an introduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best players of our generation,\u201d offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Yet, perhaps even more invaluable than Mack\u2019s on-the-field impact is his leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, man, I try,\u201d Mack said. \u201cI try to motivate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s pretty good at it.<\/p>\n

Whether by sharing pointers with rookies or helping rising stars such as teammate Tuli Tuipulotu<\/a> navigate fuzzy contract negotiations, Mack makes himself available to help those in the Chargers organization become their best selves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unique,\u201d Mack said of being a resource. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in that room, you want to be the guy you wanted to see early on \u2026 have those conversations that you wanted to have early on in your career, whether it was financial [or] different conversations you wanted to have and guys pouring into you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mack learned the importance of passing down knowledge as a youngster in Oakland under the tutelage of seasoned veterans Charles Woodson and Justin Tuck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it [was] the catalyst for my career. I had them to lean on and those examples to lean on,\u201d Mack said.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the Buffalo product stands on the other side of the street, paving the way for the next generation as one of the league\u2019s older stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got friends that don\u2019t play anymore,\u201d Mack jested. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018Aye, Mack, it\u2019s lonely on this side.\u2019 They\u2019re always talking about the locker room and camaraderie. It\u2019s just knowing how special being in the locker room is and being around your guys and enjoying it while you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

On that note, Mack has made it a point to savor every moment of training camp.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers <\/p>\n

ISteelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers fumbles the ball as he\u2019s sacked by Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack in the end zone during a game last season at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Beyond looking the part, he has already spent time helping teammates better their technique, jumping at the opportunity to teach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe walked up and asked me three things that he can work on,\u201d Mack said of helping rookie offensive tackle Travis Burke after practice. \u201cI talked him through that stuff \u2026 kind of reminds me of Joe [Alt] his first year. Whatever I can share, I\u2019m going to share, because I want them to be the best version of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one has anything bad to say about the man who wears No. 52.<\/p>\n

Instead, everyone in the Chargers organization knows how integral Mack is to the day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, [the rookies] don\u2019t know any other way to do it than the way Derwin [James] does it, the way Justin [Herbert] does it, the way K-Mack does it,\u201d coach Jim Harbaugh<\/a> said. \u201cThey don\u2019t know any other way to do it than the way those best players go about their business. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Mack is the epitome of a pro\u2019s pro.<\/p>\n

Since being the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 draft, he has been one of the most dominant pass rushers of his generation, one of the richest players off it, and in between, the ultimate captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a lot of coaches that were in my ear about being a professional early,\u201d Mack said. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s helped prolong my career. \u2026 You can take what you want and take what works for you \u2026 that\u2019s kind of the advice I give.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mack returned to the Chargers to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. But playing big brother to his teammates, has been a joyous subplot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s Coach Harbaugh say?\u201d Mack asked rhetorically. \u201cEnthusiasm unknown to mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tempting life as a full-time family man nearly pulled Khalil Mack away from football. \u201cI was leaning…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":975740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2563,7151,391671,46267,67384,23590,50903,2961,224,5337,82026,471,9099,581,391673,14164,391672,1628],"class_list":["post-975739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-career","tag-chargers","tag-chargers-teammate","tag-generation","tag-good-player","tag-guy","tag-khalil-mack","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-mack","tag-no","tag-room","tag-star","tag-tempting-life","tag-way","tag-whole-time","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117026124529319929","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=975739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/975740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=975739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=975739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=975739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}