Well you always want to play against the best. That's what you're going to get in the Super Bowl. To go against guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady who I have tons of respect for; I watch their games, I study their games, I try to learn from them. It gets you excited, but hopefully not too excited. Just focus on the game. Then when my career is done then I can look back at it.
Andrew Luck, if he gets to his first Super Bowl and he wins that Super Bowl, that means he won on the road every game except for that first playoff game. He went and beat Peyton Manning…Then that means he went and beat Tom Brady…Then he would either have to beat Aaron Rodgers or the Seattle Seahawks. That’s a pretty tough hill to climb. If he does that, he’s just solidified himself in that conversation as an elite quarterback.
It's not just back-to-back Super Bowls - it's back-to-back Super Bowls in his first three years, it's back-to-back Super Bowls climbing over the backs of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning... If Russell Wilson wins back-to-back Super Bowls, there is no doubt it puts him amongst the top.
Tom Brady is Tom Brady. He was a sixth-round draft pick. A lot of people passed up on him. He's a Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP. He's been in a bunch of Super Bowls, and he could care less about all of that. He just cares about winning the next game.
Not only do you have 16 regular-season games, you also have four preseason games. Then if you make the playoffs, you can have four more games before you get to the Super Bowl. So you can already have 24 games without the 18-game season. And 24 games takes a real toll on somebody's body.
You watch the great quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees and Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers. They all play so fast, but it's under control because they know what the defense is presenting to them before it happens. It allows them to anticipate things a little quicker, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Say I had been with a guy like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Drew Brees all of my career. Are you kidding me?
I draw a lot of comparisons with Cam Newton and E.J. Manuel. But for the mental part, I like to view myself as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and those guys. Because they're so ahead of everyone else when it comes to that part of the game.
I like coming home because nobody knows who I am. In Cookville, I'm Rich. I'm not a big deal. People like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, they just can't live a normal life and you do feel sorry for those guys.
That is probably the best thing to do: look back on the harder games you've had, the tougher games, learn what I didn't do well and what I could have done better.
You always study the players you go against. You try and stay ahead of it. Those guys are just too good to just show up on Sunday and think you're going to do well. Every week it seems like there's an all-star out there - to me, anyway. Every week is a rodeo. You just hope for the best.
I've played with some of the best that have ever played, obviously. I don't know if there is anybody that is a better technician than Peyton Manning. Tom Brady is another quarterback that I was fortunate enough to play with for a bunch of years.
We're all brought up to believe that the best players show up in the biggest games, and what bigger game than the Super Bowl? I've just been blessed and very lucky to have two of my best games on that stage.
I don't like going to football games. I like watching them on television. When you go to a game, it's hard to focus. There's so much going on, and it's cold. I'd rather sit and watch it and get replays and commentary.
Just after I retired, Michael Vick came in. And just as background, I really thought the position had changed. I thought the dynamic pass-run, triple-threat quarterback was going to take over the league. And guys like Michael Vick and others would follow and that's what we'd do. But I learned the truth with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
Look at guys like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Those guys have great arms, but people talk about them more as a quarterbacks and the intellectual side of the game and how they really dissect defenses - and then the arm is something else that helps them with that.
Were all brought up to believe that the best players show up in the biggest games, and what bigger game than the Super Bowl? Ive just been blessed and very lucky to have two of my best games on that stage.