When Broncos right guard Chris Kuper suffered a gruesome injury in the first quarter of last week’s game against Kansas City, Russ Hochstein took the field for his first offensive snaps of the season.
It was hardly an unfamiliar situation for Hochstein.
The second start of Hochstein’s career came Jan. 18, 2004, when he stepped in as an injury replacement on the Patriots’ offensive line. He started again two weeks later as the Patriots beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl. He played fullback for the Patriots the next year in another Super Bowl win, this time against the Eagles, and started eight games on the Patriots’ offensive line in 2007, the year New England lost in the Super Bowl to the Giants. Hochstein hasn’t missed a practice for the Broncos this season and has played in every game on special teams. Now he’ll start his first game since late last season. The Broncos as a whole might not have as much playoff experience as the Steelers, their opponent in today’s wild-card playoff game, but Hochstein, 34, knows what playoff pressure is all about.
Q: What’s the biggest advice you can tell these other guys about how the game changes in the playoffs?
A: The best thing to tell guys is that the speed of the game picks up. Everybody plays faster. You can’t let all the pressure consume you, all the hype consume you, so it’s about sticking to what you do, do your job and stay at an even keel.
Q: What has this past week been like for you as you get ready to start for the first time this year? Has it been kind of a whirlwind?
A: Yeah, it is. Our heart goes out to Kuper. These guys were up front together for so long, so many weeks in a row. I’m never trying to replace anybody, I’m just trying to help. Moving forward, I’m just trying to help them out, help the whole unit out, and hopefully that helps us win the game.
Q: Being a veteran, will these younger guys be able to look to you as a leader like they did to Kuper?
A: You’d have to ask them that. I’m definitely a person where I’m going to do what I do, and try to lead by example, do the best I can and just do my job. I think if you do that, that helps take care of those other things.
Q: You’re a Nebraska guy, right?
A: Born and raised. I’m from the northeast corner, Hartington. It’s a really small town.
Q: How small is small?
A: About 1,600 people. I graduated with a class of 30.
Q: Was it always your goal to play at the University of Nebraska?
A: Oh, yeah, you would have had to tear me away from that.
Q: Is Nebraska still home?
A: I still have my house on the East Coast. I married a Rhode Island girl. But over the last three years, I’ve spent most of my time here in Denver and totally fallen in love with it. Are you kidding me? The weather here is gorgeous.
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
Editor’s note
Each Sunday throughout the season, The Denver Post’s Broncos reporters help readers get to know the players on a more personal level.
Russ Hochstein
Position: Guard
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 305 pounds
Hometown: Hartington, Neb.
College: Nebraska
Draft: 5th round, 2001, Tampa Bay
Experience: 11th year, third in Denver
Career stats: 138 games, 36 starts
2011 stats: 16 games, zero starts. Will start today against Pittsburgh.
