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**Q: Rodney, you went to the Superbowl in '94 and now you are going again. How do you feel and what's different about it now?RH:**
I think '94 I was a rookie and pretty much don't appreciate the wins, the opportunity that you had as a young player coming in the National Football League, and, I mean, that's why I told Asante [Samuel], Eugene Wilson and all those guys, you can't take it for granted, you can't take the wins for granted, because it's so hard to win in the National Football League and to be able to come here and accomplish this, I am totally elated about it.
Q: Your interception of Manning early in the game, how big emotionally was that? You came down, marched for a touchdown, looked like they were goingRH:
We knew that they had so many weapons, and to be able to change momentum and make plays, kind of confuse, harass, and play physical football, and to make turnovers. We knew that if we could just hang in there and be patient, we will have a couple opportunities, had some balls that Peyton would throw up and we made plays, and that really helped shift the momentum.
Q: Can you take us through the interceptions?RH:
Well, basically, on film, he likes to look guys off, and, basically, Ty Law did a great job. He had Marvin Harrison pretty well locked down, so it gave me the ability to roam, so I pushed toward the middle and I saw the tight end, and so I went over and try to make the play.
Q: So had he not locked him down, you would have been doubling on Harrison?RH:
Yeah.
Q: He said he used new wrinkles today. What was the new stuff?RH:
Football you can disguise, you can try to confuse people, but it all comes down to physical play, and that's what we preached the whole week, physical play. When you saw the receivers on film scoring all these touchdowns, it's because they were untouched, unscathed. No one would really play physical with these guys, and our aim was to play physical, hit these guys in the mouth, and let them know that we are here and we are going to be patient, and it's a 60 minute ball game.
Q: You think the last few times your teammates held their receivers, the last two plays?RH:
Obviously, we got out of there without them scoring, but it was just a great win for us.
Q: I mean, illegally holding them. It looked like you were driving them, Colts thought that.RH:
It's not a call unless they call it, right? Who cares? You know, it's over with.
Q: Can you talk about Ty Law's performance today.RH:
I said it once, I said it before, Ty Law is the best corner in the league, and I think he proved it today. His ability to play man, zone, his ability to shut down week in and week out the opposing receiver. I mean, he went against the best receiver in the National Football League.
Q: Rodney, this week you talked about Eugene Wilson and how a lot of people thought based on his performance last time against Indianapolis Colts. Can you talk about his play today and a couple of the hits that he made the second half.RH:
We preached it all week, physical play, and I talked to Eugene. I told him that people were down on him. He knew that he struggled the first game we played, but Eugene is a unique individual, he is very introverted, very quiet, you really never know what you are getting out of Eugene in terms of his personality, but I looked in Eugene's eyes, I knew he was ready to play. He had something to prove, because everyone was doubting Eugene, and all week we talked about being physical, hitting the receivers, okay, they catch the ball, hit them, hit them, and that's what Eugene did.
I mean, he looked like a big time hitter out there, so he really played a statement.
Q: Obviously, this game was something special because you are going to another Superbowl, but the whole week nationally was all about Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. Can you talk about that and how much that means to you, along with winning an AFC Championship?RH:
All it really does is fuel the fire. No one gave us a chance. You hear remarks with Marcus Pollard, what he said, as far as just give him the rings, and every time we look on TV we see Peyton Manning. There was nothing about our other great quarterback in Tom Brady, so it really fueled a fire and it gave us a lot of fire behind our energy because we got tired of hearing it. The way you earn respect, you have to go out there and win ball games, so it really created a great opportunity for us to overcome some adversity.
Q: How fitting was it, when they are down by 7, two minutes to go, game on the line, how fitting was it that it came down to your defense making one last stand against them?RH:
Well, we couldn't let them come in and score 30, 40 points and have 400 yards of offense. We have a lot of pride in this defense. We have a lot of veteran guys, and all along, Willie McGinest was saying this is it right here, this is our season, and for us to come up with the big plays time and time again, we knew they wouldn't quit, that they had big play guys and at any time they could strike. So just the confidence that these guys showed, regardless of the situation, really helped out.
Q: That respect that you talked about, considering all the talk about Peyton, do you feel you have earned that respect yourself, personally? Do you think he has earned it?RH:
Well, hopefully. Does it even matter? I mean, it's about winning ball games. Each week, regardless if we had a seven game winning streak, people doubted us, people pretty much called us pretenders, never gave us a chance, so the way you go about doing that is go win ball games, so, I mean, it really doesn't matter. Just go out there and win ball games, and when have our opportunity, the Superbowl.
Q: What was the sense on the sideline on that first offensive drive of your team? How satisfying was it to see them go down and get that first touchdown?RH:
Gives us a huge boost to go out there and see the offense while we are sitting down with six points on the board, but we knew we had to get some points on the board, it was huge for Tom Brady, and we knew we were going to have to put some points on the board to stay with those guys, and it was huge because Tom Brady looked at me and said, "You have nothing to worry about, we are going to score." So it was pretty much up to us not to let them get 20, 30, 40 points.
Q: Super this, super that, super Manning. He comes in here, you guys pick him off four times and take care of the situation.RH:
No one gave our secondary or our defense respect, and like I said, you have to go out there and make plays on the ball, play physical football and take care of business, but to go out there and pick a guy that everyone was building up, he is a heck of a player, and he is the best quarterback in the league, as far as the MVP voting and everything, but to go out there and make plays on the ball, and to have Ty Law pick off three balls, it was huge for us.
Q: Can you tell us about Ty? During the week did you get a sense that he was chomping at the bit to send a message to Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison? Can you talk about that?RH:
The whole week. We were really ticked off because no one gave us credit, the opportunity, it was all about Peyton Manning, and I said it before, one guy cannot win a championship. It's a team. Football is the ultimate team game, and Ty Law, he told me today, he saw an interview on TV, he said, "Hey, man, I am tired of talking. All this media hype, it's time to go out there and play football, and that's what it is prove he is the best corner in the league
