When I first came into the league, we went 13-3 with a first-round bye, and I said, 'OK, this is how the NFL goes. This is cake. I'll have a Super Bowl trip every couple of years.' That's what I thought.
If you don't win a Super Bowl, you're not considered successful in the National Football League. I can remember, when we finally won that first one, feeling so good for the players and fans.
The first thing that came to mind when I met Tom Brady was intimidation. I'm showing up in 2005 with a guy who just came off his third Super Bowl win. So, it's a little intimidating walking in the room with Tom Brady for the first time.
The year we went to our first Super Bowl in 1992, we were the youngest team in football. We played in the Super Bowl against a team that had a wealth of playoff experience and Super Bowl experience, and we dominated that football game.
Everybody had to go to some college or other. A business college, a junior college, a state college, a secretarial college, an Ivy League college, a pig farmer's college. The book first, then the work.
I've been nervous a number of times. Your first start. Playing in the Super Bowl. Your first Super Bowl. Very nerve-racking. The one thing that you can always fall back on is that you know what you are doing. You know how to play the game.
The greatest thing is to win your first Super Bowl.
If you're an athlete, you might work your entire life, and you win the Super Bowl once, if you're lucky. And I feel like in the arts and entertainment we win the Super Bowl all the time.
I was so competitive, I wanted to win games but... I lost 13 games in my first three years in college. I lost 13 games in my first month in the league and it felt like nobody cared. So, eventually halfway through the season, I'm like 'well, why the hell do I care?' If they don't care, why do I care.
Every year is Super Bowl or bust, really. If you ain't shooting for the Super Bowl... I mean, I guess if you're the Browns, you're shooting for a win. Or a few wins, at least. But everybody else, you gotta be shooting for the Super Bowl.
Sometimes you can be one of the best, but you don't accept that if you don't get the ring or win the Super Bowl. There's a lot of good teams between the Super Bowl winner and other teams. Once the Super Bowl is over, we lump everyone into the other 31, and that's not fair.
Our goal was to win, to win a Super Bowl, but also to win in the right way, to be role models to our community, to represent Indianapolis, the state of Indiana and the National Football League.
Guys are coming into the league a little more mature when they take the three or four years in college.
The first dream I had was just to get a college education. I got through college in three years, taking extra classes in summer school.
I played in the Super Bowl in my first year, and the last game I ever played in was the Super Bowl. There's something to be said for going out on a high note.
Our coaches want to be a part of South Carolina football when they win it for the first time. When they win the division, when they win the SEC, win a major bowl game, etc. The opportunities to do it all for the first time here make it extra special.