I was very surprised. I was concerned about being able to walk again, and even possibly having to retire. And the possibility to maybe play in this game is very exciting and motivating for me. |
In a championship game, you can't afford any mistakes. I thought I was going to be able to swat the ball down. I just completely missed it and he caught it, and he just beat me on that play. |
It didn't surprise me at all, ... It really didn't. |
It didn't take long at all [to get used to each other]. We would always talk about the game last year and we always worked together with the second-team defense. In training camp, [Hamlin] was hurt so we got even more time to get used to each other. |
It is motivation for us, but that's just a glimpse of our season. Every game we've been the underdogs, and people have not picked us to do well and have thought that we've been lucky the whole year and that we would never make it to the Super Bowl. Here we are, and we're here to show the world that we're a good team and that we're the best. |
It kind of reminds me of my brother's [Peter] team in Baltimore. They got there, and they were kind of young like we are, made a lot of mistakes. Sooner or later they came around to be the No. 1 defense of all time. That's what I'm hoping will happen here. |
It opened up for me and I got a clean hit. |
It shows you how tough he is and how committed he is to this team and what he's willing to go through. |
It was a good effort by our defense. The D-line got a good rush, and the corners got a good jam, and we played over the top. So I think it was a team effort that got it done. |
It was emotional. It was scary. |
It was really scary. I mean, he was in a situation where he had the potential to die. Super Bowl, all that is nothing compared to someone's life. That was a very, very hard time, a very emotional time for our team. |
It wasn't that we put extra guys on him or did anything different. The corners played a sound game; they weren't cheating up or anything. The safeties were over the top. The defensive line put on good pressure. That's why it looked like we were all over the place: Everyone was where they should be. |
It's been amazing how he's stepped up into the leadership role and made big plays. He's been a big asset to this team on the field and in the locker room. Coming in as a rookie, you didn't know if he was going to make the plays. Then he started making plays, so I figured he'd hit the wall. But that never happened. He's just gotten better and better. |
Last year is dead to me, |
Marquand is like a coach out there on the field. I attribute a lot of my success and a lot of my learning as a safety to him because he's been right by my side, helping me out the whole way. Last year it was just me and him on the sideline, talking the game when we weren't playing. He knows the game very, very well and loves to study it. |