A former NW graduate and the starting left guard for the Indianapolis Colts. Lilja recently moved into a new off season home at Lake Quivira where he grew up.

The Colts clearly have a winning attitude? What do you attribute this to?
I think it’s an expectation that we’re going to win, that we’re going to execute well on the field. To be honest with you, it’s an expectation of winning. I think that’s a rare thing in the NFL; I don’t think a lot of teams expect to win. It’s a tough league. Every team’s good; every player’s good. I think ever since I got here, it was like an expectation that this team is built to succeed.

Who is your mentor or what person has had the greatest influence on your life?
My mother. Her dealing with losing my father when we were young, three boys under the age of 16, growing up without a Dad, and she did it all by herself. She never asked for anything from anybody and just to see that….she’s such a special person.

You’ve tasted the success of Super Bowl victory before. How hard is to come off the disappointment of losing this time?
As good as it is to win it all, it’s twice as bad to lose it. I heard it from guys on the team like Adam Vinateri who had lost in the Super Bowl. I kinda thought it’s still great to get there. But it’s really not fun to get there and to lose in the last game, and nobody remembers who lost in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter how great your year is going up to that game. You could be smashing records, doing great things on the football field, and if you lose that game, you’re forgotten history. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

Who is the toughest defender you’ve ever gone up against?
Albert Haynesworth. He got a $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins. But he earned it…He’s a big man, probably 6’7” and 365 lbs

Linemen might be some of the most battered players in the NFL. How do you usually feel the day after a rough game? And what do you do to recuperate?
The day after you take some medicine, but two days out is usually the sorest point. You do whatever you can to keep your body in the best shape that you can. You do those little things in the training room: you stretch, you do massage therapy once or twice a week. It’s a long season in the trenches; you’re battling a lot. Some games are worse than others, but it’s part of the job description. I had a year when I didn’t get to play at all and wasn’t ever sore, but I’d rather have a year like this when you’re sore every Tuesday.

What has it been like working with Peyton Manning the past five years? How would you describe your relationship with him?
It’s been great. I’ve been happy to play with one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game and just been fortunate enough to be on this team. It’s an honor. It’s a privilege. He’s one of the best, and he’s fun guy to be around. He takes good care of his offensive linemen. I tell you where he goes, we go. If I could play my whole career with him, I’d be happy because I’ll probably get a couple more rings. He’s the best around right now.

You talk about how Manning takes care of the linemen. You were quoted in an Associated Press story saying he thanks the linemen with some pretty lavish gifts. What are the best gifts he’s given you or your teammates?
He took us to the Kentucky Derby after we won the Super Bowl. There were about 10 of us he took down there to Nashville. Limousine ride down there. $1000 gambling money. We got to stay at the best hotels in Nashville. We got invitations to all the hottest parties and club level seats right on the horse line. We had a blast.”

There have been some rumors that you bought a house at Lake Quivira. Any truth to that?
I’m actually here now. I bought one right next to my brother and sister-in-law, and I’ve got a 20-month-old niece that is the apple of my eye. She’s the most fun thing to be around. My mom still lives in the house that I grew up in across the lake… To be around my family is the best therapy, I think, for me in the offseason.”

You were undrafted out of college and were cut from the Chiefs early in your career. Now you’re a key member of possibly the best offensive line in the NFL. Can you talk about how you’ve risen to this much success?
“Its a combination of several things. Hard work is obviously the number one thing. The opportunity to play at K-State and get some exposure with the NFL. And the opportunity to get picked up by an organization that wins a lot of football games. So, there’s a little bit of luck, but a lot of hard work.”

Who is your mentor or what person has had the greatest influence on your life?
“My mother. Her dealing with losing my father when we were young, three boys under the age of 16, growing up without a Dad, and she did it all by herself. She never asked for anything from anybody and just to see that….she’s such a special person.”

You’ve tasted the success of Super Bowl victory before. How hard is to come off the disappointment of losing this time?
“As good as it is to win it all, it’s twice as bad to lose it. I heard it from guys on the team like Adam Vinateri who had lost in the Super Bowl. I kinda thought it’s still great to get there. But it’s really not fun to get there and to lose in the last game, and nobody remembers who lost in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter how great your year is going up to that game. You could be smashing records, doing great things on the football field, and if you lose that game, your forgotten history. That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Did you agree with coach Jim Caldwell’s decision to rest the starters in the last two games of the season and give up on the perfect season?
I didn’t have to agree with him. I’m a grunt. They just tell me what to do, and I do it. Those decisions are left up to smarter people than me. They took a lot of flak for that. They were criticized for that by a lot of people, especially people in the Colts community. I respect him for making the decision. It’s not fun going into a game knowing that your probably not going to play. But at the same time you see what happened to Wes Welker at the end of the season and I think that opened a lot of peoples eyes to the decision that was made. I wish we could have won the Super Bowl. And we would have accomplished all our goals and made the decision look brilliant. But we didn’t and we gotta live with it.

This was the second Super Bowl you’ve played in. First of all, what was the first experience like?
You know you been there before. And for us it was really similar because we were literally at the same city, same hotel, same stadium, same practice facility it was like Deja vu. The first time going was really pretty special.

This time I was gonna be disappointed if we didn’t go to the Super Bowl. Our road to Miami was not as difficult as years past and I kinda expected us to get there. Once we did, I kinda had this fieelign that I don’t want to lose this. Let’s just finish this up and not celebrate that we’re here. We can party for three months post-game if we want to.

What’s your favorite part of Super Bowl week outside of practicing and preparing for the game?
I like going with the guys. You get on the place go down there. You have meals together. You go out to dinner. dinner together, nice restaurants. We had a day where we went down to the beach and enjoyed the weather together. It was just fun and the families get in on Thursday night and that’s a great experience to see your family together having a great time and to get enjoy the tropical paradise and all that goes along with that stuff.

Your Offensive line is one of the best in the NFL. This year Manning was only sacked 10 times in the regular season. How do you guys protect him so well and keep the pocket from collapsing?
It’s a combination of a these things. we have a good system. We have great offensive lineman that know how to pass protect and protect blitzes protect different schemes that teams that might throw at us to pressure our quarterback. We obviously have a quarterback who can get rid of the ball quickly and we have great route runners in our wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. It’s a combination of all those things that go together.”

Who is the toughest defender you’ve ever gone up against?
Albert Haynesworth. He got $100 million dollar contract with the Washington Reskins. But he earned it…He’s a big man, probably 6’7″ and 365 lbs.

What are the most important skills or assets a lineman can have? Such as, does quickness matter more than size and strength?
I think it does. I think it depends a lot on what scheme your running. Are you a power running team that runs the ball 40 times a game? Or are you a team that gonna run the ball 25 times a game and throw it a lot and run an up tempo style of offense. I think our team puts a premium on athleticism and quickness and being smart and being able to compute things at the line of scrimmage when the bullets are flying and being able to do your technique and what not, but it varies from team to team.”

Linemen might be some of the most battered players in the NFL. How do you usually feel the day after a rough game? And what do you do to recuperate?
You know what, it’s usually two days after are the worst. The day after you take some medicine, but two days out is usually the sorest point. You do whatever you can to keep your body in the best shape that you can. You do those little things in the training room, you stretch, you do massage therapy once or twice a week. You take a lot of Advil. Its a long season in the trenches; your battling a lot. Some games are worse than others, but it’s part of the job description. I had a year when I didn’t get to play at all and wasn’t ever sore, but I’d rather have a year like this when you’re sore every Tuesday.

Peyton audibles a lot and tends to take the play calling into his own hands. Do you guys ever get confused with what’s going on?
Not really. He processes things very quickly and he watches so much film and studies the opponent so well. He’s almost Clair Voyant (sp?) when we get on the field.