As Daniel Green sat on a chair next door to Kansas State’s locker room last New Year’s Eve discussing the Wildcats’ Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama, he was convinced that he had just played his final college game.

Yes, he had been hurt for most of the 2022 season, but after a strong showing in the Big 12 championship game and five solid years in Manhattan he was ready to move on and try his luck in the NFL.

Or so he thought.

“After the (Sugar Bowl), I thought that was my last game,” said Green, who since then thrilled his coaches and teammates alike in mid-January by announcing his return to the Wildcats for a super-senior sixth year. “A lot of thought and prayer, and just talking to those close people that I hold their opinions highly, it started with basically coming back to showcase my best football this year and staying healthy.”

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Staying healthy was a year-long challenge for Green, a 2022 preseason all-conference pick at middle linebacker. He made seven tackles and intercepted a pass against Missouri in week 2, but suffered a foot injury that slowed him considerably for the next several games.

Then, just as he was getting back to full strength he tore cartilage in his rib in an Oct. 21 loss at TCU, forcing him to miss the next game and simply fight through the pain the rest of the regular season.