Jim Nantz, CBS
Tedy Bruschi, Former Patriots Linebacker
Robert Kraft, Patriots Chairman & CEO
Bill Belichick, Patriots Head Coach
Tom Brady, Patriots Quarterback
JN: Patriots Nation, congratulations. New England is going back to the Super Bowl. It's time for the presentation of the Lamar Hunt Trophy, and for the honors: Tedy Bruschi.Â
TB: Mr. Kraft, on behalf of all the fans of the New England Patriots, it is my honor to present to you the Lamar Hunt Trophy representative of the American Football Conference champions.Â
JN: What would you like to say about this team?Â
RK: For a number of reasons, all of you in this stadium understand how big this win was. But, we have to go to Houston and win one (more).Â
JN: Robert and Jonathan, congratulations. Coach Belichick, I'm going to hand this to you and step back. You have now the record alone for a head coach to take a team for the seventh time to a Super Bowl. This week you told us—what you don't say freely that often—you felt this was a very special team. Why?
BB: Great players. It's all about the players. We've got great players. They work hard, they're unselfish and they're tough.
JN: What did you think the key was to this game tonight?Â
BB:Players played hard; they played smart; we took care of the ball; played good defense. They held this team (Pittsburgh) to nine points for 50 minutes. (That's) pretty good.
JN:Would you mind handing off that trophy to No. 12 over here? Tom Brady, you're going to be asked this a lot in the next couple of weeks: extra motivation for you this year to go to the Super Bowl again and to win it?
TB: No, this is my motivation right here--all of these fellas right here in front of me. That's why we're here because these guys—and all the fans got to see it today—the boys showed up and played today. We've got to do that again in two weeks.
JN: Obviously you missed (TE Rob) Gronkowski. The rest of the team, you went position-by-position—you felt like there were certain years that some teams there were just a little something extra special. You said this team was just that. Why?
TB:We've won a lot of different ways under a lot of different circumstances. This mental toughness, man, that's what it's all about and this team's got it. We'll see if we can write the perfect ending in a couple of weeks. It's going to take a big effort. We're going to need a couple of weeks to prepare because we're playing a great team but it's going to be a hell of a game.
JN:Congratulations. Heading back to the Super Bowl again: the New England Patriots.Â