This story begins on a quiet fall night in Michigan - which is significant - because for the first September in Frank Zombo's adult life, he wasn't on a football field.

He wasn't playing more than half of the Kansas City Chiefs' snaps on special teams or starting nine games at outside linebacker, as he did in 2017. Instead, he was running errands, mowing the lawn and, on this particular night, tucking his kids into bed.

"My kids' bedroom is decorated with all Chiefs' stuff. [Team Photographer] Steve Sanders printed some pictures for me and they're all over the walls. There's a photo of Arrowhead Stadium with a stealth bomber flying over it and more stuff like that," Zombo explained. "When I put my kids to bed, I looked at those and just thought to myself, 'Man, I miss being out there.'"

Several days had passed since the Chiefs parted ways with Zombo following five years in the red and gold. The eight-year veteran was among the final roster cuts after training camp, and save for a daily trip to the gym, Zombo was away from the grind of professional football for the first time in nearly a decade.

This was uncharted territory, and when the Chiefs took on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, instead of suiting up and grabbing a helmet, Zombo found himself smoking a rack of ribs and playing poker with some buddies from high school.

It was a fun afternoon - several poor hands of poker notwithstanding - but this wasn't where Zombo felt he was supposed to be.