Arizona Cardinals - Lunes 19/1/09

Monday Press Conference 1/19/09


Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt

Opening Statement:

“Good morning, everyone. Obviously, we are excited that we are going to the Super Bowl. The latest injury update right now is Travis LaBoy did something to his bicep. We are not sure if it is a strain or potentially a tear. We are getting an MRI on that and we will have more information a little bit later. Other than that, we came out of the game fairly well. We will see as the week progresses. There are a couple of guys that have a few nicks that we are getting checked out as well.”


On what the last 24 hours has been like for him:

“Pretty exciting. Just the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl is something you work so hard for starting back in March during your offseason programs. Especially this year with all of the ups and downs that we have had, the idea that we won the NFC Championship, especially at home in front of our fans, and now that we have the opportunity to go to Tampa, is very exciting.”


On playing the “no respect” card and how it played in the teams’ favor:

“I think that it is not a surprise that we would be an underdog. This is a very good football team that we are going against; one that a number of the members of this organization are familiar with. I think that is going to continue. The same way we have been working. The same way we have been focusing. Obviously, there is not going to be a lot of people singing our praises. That will hopefully keep us focused.”


On his personal feelings playing the Steelers after his years there and not getting the Head Coaching job with them:

“As I said last night, there is obviously a strong place in my heart for a lot of the people, coaches, players, and obviously Mr. Rooney with that organization. A big part of the reason why I am here is because of my opportunity to work with that team. I am excited that we are in the Super Bowl, first and foremost. If I had to be happy that another team made it, obviously it would have been the Steelers because of knowing so many people in the organization. There is going to be a lot of excitement for this game. There will be a lot of our friends who will be down there. It will make for a good two weeks.”


On if he has any hard feelings for the Steelers:

“Why would I have any hard feelings? I don’t see why you wouldn’t want an NFL job. I had a great opportunity here. There were a lot of things that I thought were in place that would help us have an opportunity to win. I think we have shown that, and I am excited about that.”


On if he felt like he was close to getting the Steelers’ Head Coaching job:

“They still had a week or so to go, at least, of interviews before they were going to make a decision with that job. I had an opportunity here that I felt was a good opportunity. I had to make the decision—waiting to see if I could get that job or having the one here. Like I said, I thought that there were a number of good things about this situation. I felt that I could be successful here, and I was very excited about the opportunity. The one thing I learned is that if you have an opportunity, you have to be very careful about passing things up because you never know if you will get another one.”


On what the week leading up to his decision to come to the Cardinals was like:

“I took the job here on Saturday, and I don’t think they hired their coach until the following weekend. Once I had accepted the offer here, I didn’t have any other thoughts about the Steelers, except other than gratitude for what they had given me the opportunity to do.”


On what it meant to get Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach Russ Grimm to come along to the Cardinals:

“I was very excited to get Russ here. He is an outstanding football coach, one that I have a tremendous amount of history with, both as a player and a coach. We have had great success together. A lot of the things we do here, I know we think a lot alike. I think he has been a great part of why we have had success, especially with what he has done with our offensive line.”


On the emotions during the game, specifically Anquan Boldin and Todd Haley arguing on the sidelines:

“That’s a normal thing that happens. It happened in the first quarter with Todd and Kurt [Warner] on the sidelines. It happened with a couple of our defensive players and defensive coaches. It’s an emotional game. Yesterday’s game was one of the most emotional you’ll play in. It was the Conference Championship. Those things happen. But what we have been able to do this year is move on and play. That’s part of it. These guys are highly intense competitors. Our coaches are as well. I think that there is a fine line you walk but we’ve obviously been able to still succeed.”


On if the timing of that argument impacted the game-winning drive:

“Obviously it didn’t affect us being successful on the drive. I didn’t think that it was an issue to be honest with you.”


On if this is something that needs to be dealt with further:

“From my understanding it’s over with. Like I said, those things happen on the field, those things happen in games all the time. This is a highly competitive business. There are a lot of emotional swings that go into this game. We’re never going to always agree on things. But we’ve always been able to move past that and continue to be focused on our goal. I know for a fact that I’ve had knock-down, drag-out fights with other coaches sitting in the room putting together a plan. But those are the guys you go to battle with because you know they have your back and you know that you are able to go through those things together.”


On Adrian Wilson saying that this is something that needs to be taken care of before Tampa:

“I don’t know that it is a situation. I don’t get that feeling. I respect Adrian for what he’s done for us and what he means to this team. (With) leaders like Adrian and Kurt [Warner] among others on this team, especially where we are, it won’t be an issue.”


On Anquan Boldin not participating in the post-game celebration:

“That’s not for me to regret. I think everybody has ways of dealing with success or being happy. I can’t speak for Anquan on that.”


On his relationship with Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger when he coached at Pittsburgh:

“That was a very good relationship with Ben. I certainly respect the player that he’s grown into. I hope that our time together contributed a little bit to that. He was always very good with me and worked very hard. I was very lucky to have him as a quarterback especially my first year as a coordinator and what we were able to do.”


On if he had a feeling that this was unbelievable after the Steelers won:

“Did you expect anything different? I mean when we actually won the game how could it have not been the Steelers? That was what I expected. It’s just a shame there won’t be many story lines this week because of these two matchups.”


On who has the advantage between him and Ben Roethlisberger knowing one another:

“I don’t know if there is an advantage. He’s playing pretty good football right now. He does a lot of things very well and it’s going to be a tough issue facing him. He’s grown up as most players do when they have played a lot. He’s had a lot of success and he will be a very difficult player to face.”


On his relationship with Steeler’s Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau:

“I don’t like Dick LeBeau very much [laughing]. I mean this guy hasn’t been in the league very long—no, probably as special of a relationship as you can have. I love Dick LeBeau and once again he’s not one of those guys I’m excited about facing in the Super Bowl because of what he does and what he’s meant to this game.


On if knowing the Steelers makes him overconfident:

“Well I hope it can’t hurt us that we know a little bit about them. Hopefully it will only help us. That team has changed from the two years since we were there and they had a very difficult schedule and played a lot of good football this year. So we know it’s going to be a challenge. I think knowing the personnel for the most part is a little bit easier because you don’t have to spend as much time doing that but we have two weeks to prepare so it’s not like we’re in a time crunch.


On Cardinals’ offensive coordinator Todd Haley:

“Well I think Todd has done an outstanding job here during the time he’s worked with us. I look back to what Coach Cowher did for me when I was a coordinator and that was an opportunity to grow as a coach. I always felt like if I had that opportunity I was going to do the same. I feel like that’s what we’ve done with Todd but you have to give him credit because he has worked hard to be good at his job. Part of being successful means you get attention and it’s well deserved. Hopefully we’ll have one more game where it continues to be a good thing.”


On the importance of being a balanced team:

“Well it’s obviously been important to our success because we’ve been moving the ball and scoring a lot of points and that’s something that is critical, with the exception of the third quarter in yesterday’s game. We’ve always stressed the fact that we wanted to be a balanced football team. Earlier in the season we were skewed more towards the pass because we felt we needed to do that in order to win our division. We were hot and we were using that but credit to our offensive line, credit to Russ [Grimm] and a lot of our other staff who knew that it was going to be important later in the season to run the football. That’s certainly helped us be more versatile. It’s helped the play action game where we’ve made some big plays and it’s also helped us at the end of the game when we’ve had some critical situations where we needed to run the ball and (have) been successful. That’s been a big difference.”


On if Pittsburgh is the best defense in the league:

“Well it appears so from their statistics. I haven’t really studied them in depth yet but from what I’ve seen it certainly appears that way. They are the number one defense in the league in just about every category. I know there are a lot of players that were there when I was there, but that’s another couple years they’ve been able to gel under that system and they’ve really been playing well.”


On how the Steelers’ secondary matches up:

“I couldn’t tell you that until I really look at them. I know that Ike Taylor is a good young cornerback that has grown up considerably and been playing well for them. I know they’ve had some injuries with the other side between Deshea [Townsend] and B-Mac [Bryant McFadden] but once again I haven’t studied them enough to tell you that.”


On what the next couple weeks look like:

“I think that knowing what it’s going to be like, knowing the schedules, knowing what you have to do to prepare will certainly help us. There are a number of coaches on this staff that have done the same thing. So as far as being able to give the players a heads up on what the week is going to be like; what you have look forward to, what you have to be careful about, how you have to keep your focus, that’s the big thing. It’s funny because we talked about that trip to the East coast where we stayed out there. That’s what it’s going to be very similar to. Fortunately for us, we’re better when we go through something a second time it seems like. Hopefully that will help us out because it is going to be very similar to that week that we were in Washington.”


On Pittsburgh’s offense and how it’s different from two years ago:

“They don’t run as much two-back as they did when we were there. They haven’t run as much full-back. A lot of the plays that I’ve seen, once again I haven’t really studied them much other than what I’ve seen on TV, there’s some similarity in some of the plays that they’ve done but obviously they’ve changed a few things. Ben [Roethlisberger] has done a great job of handling the offense and changing some things at the line and getting in and out of plays. You can see some of those things on film. There are some similarities, but they have changed just like we have changed a little bit offensively from some of the things we were doing in Pittsburgh.”


On doing better when faced with adversity rather than success:

“I think that’s the mark of a team with a lot of young players that are playing for the first time that don’t understand what it takes consistency wise to win games. Usually when you have a team that’s been successful you have a core group of veterans that understand how you have to work in order to maintain that success. When you have a team like the Cardinals who haven’t had a great deal of success, you don’t have that core group that understands that. When you work so hard to attain something, to win the division, when you accomplish that you get a feeling of phew, okay, we made it, we got there. What you have to do to keep your focus and continue with the same work ethic is not always easy to do and that’s part of the reason we struggled at the end of the year. Adversity makes you stronger and obviously that worked out for us because at the end of the year we’re playing a lot better football.


On getting those experienced players:

“Whenever you come into a team you’re going to make changes and you want to get players that you feel are going to help develop the chemistry, especially ones that have the experience and have been there before. Rod Graves and his staff have worked well at doing that and getting some of these free agents in here that have been instrumental in us having some leadership, having some success, like Bryan Robinson and Travis LaBoy, some of those guys, (they are) the ones that jump out at you.”


On if they are going to stick with the strategies they have been doing:

“I think what we do is we game plan for our opponents. We put a lot of time into that and trying to figure out ways to attack them. Our plans are going to evolve on a weekly basis because we are certainly trying to situate our strengths as well as take care of what they do. Yesterday’s game was a perfect example. We got a pretty good package in to handle their blitzes, we worked hard on it during the week and it paid off for us in some critical situations.”



Cardinals QB Kurt Warner

On if he has fed off of the ‘no respect’ card:

“I’m the wrong person to ask. I don’t buy into all that stuff. To me, it’s just about going out and trying to be great every time out there and working to be excellent. I think we’re in a process as a football team and an organization, and we have been for the past couple years, we’re learning how to do that. We’re learning what it takes to be a great football team. Although I don’t think we’re there yet, I think we’re getting closer. I think guys are starting to understand and putting in the time and the effort. People take motivation from that and they take motivation from [the no respect card]. But I’m the wrong person to ask because to me, that holds no water. What people say doesn’t really matter. It’s all about what you do when you come to work and how you prepare and how you go out on Sundays and play. I’m sure some guys have fed off it but it’s not something that really drives me.”


On the state of WR Anquan Boldin and if he’s talked to him:

“I talk to him after the game, I texted him after the game too. I don’t think there’s any issue there but obviously if I think there is then we’ll definitely look into it. But I don’t foresee anything being a problem.”


On what he makes of him and Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley arguing on the sidelines:

“I don’t make anything of it. My wife tells me every week, ‘What in the world were you and Todd yelling about this week?’ so it happens. During the course of things, sometimes you see things differently, sometimes coaches will say something that they don’t really know what happened on the field, or you have a different perspective, that stuff happens. I don’t know what the scenario was, obviously late in the game we understand [Anquan Boldin] is a competitor and he wants to be in there helping us win because he was such a big part of what we were doing. I don’t know what transpired there but I know that Todd and I have argued most of the games this year. You just see things differently sometimes on the field in the heat of battle. As a player sometimes you want something and as a coach you see things from a different perspective and your competitive juices just fire and you let it go. I’ve had it happen with Todd a number of times this year and after the game we’re talking and we’re texting and we’re just saying ‘hey, it is what it is’ we still are going to go to battle and we’re still going to compete and we’re still going to appreciate one another. But sometimes as competitors you get into some of those things.”


On his relationship with Todd Haley:

“I think he’s done a tremendous job this year. If there’s one thing that I’ve noticed it’s that coaches that have been position coaches and have moved up to coordinator positions, it almost seems that sometimes their personality changes. You come to understand when you take over a coordinator position that you are responsible for a lot more. You have to work to not just get your one little unit ready or be buddies with this one group, you are responsible for making everything go. Sometimes you have to push a little harder, sometimes you have to be the guy that stands up and says ‘it’s not about all of you guys liking me, it’s about me getting the best out of every one of you’. I’ve seen that with a number of my coaches where you can say they are fiery or competitive or whatever you want to call it but when you take on a position like that, that naturally comes out. They just understand there is a different role they have to play. Their role isn’t just getting along with that group that they are coaching; it’s about getting the best out of the whole group and pushing them to be something great. That’s what I see from Todd. There are always times as players you think, ‘why does he have to do that? Why does he have to be like that?’ but what I would say is the bottom line when you leave this game, and I believe it’s this way as a coach, you want players to respect you. They don’t have to like you but you want them to walk away saying that guy, with whatever it was he did, he made me and pushed me to be a better football player. I think that’s what Todd does everyday. Whether we all agree on what he does sometimes is irrelevant. What he’s doing, I believe, he’s got the intention of getting the best out of every one of us. You have to appreciate that part of it. You have to respect that part of it. Sometimes you talk about being a parent, it’s what they call that tough love. Sometimes you do things and your kids can’t stand it. They tell you, you don’t know anything and that you’re an idiot. But you know in the back of your mind that you are only doing it for their best interest. You are only doing it because you love them and you want to get the best out of them. I believe you have coaches like that too and I think Todd’s like that. I think that’s why sometimes we get fired up on the sideline because we see things differently. Again, the bottom line is we’ll always walk away saying, I understand that all he was doing was just trying to get the best out of me, or get the best out of us. You can’t help but appreciate that.”


On the satisfaction of accomplishing his goal of going to another Super Bowl:

“It’s pretty satisfying. It feels pretty good. I just still was listening to people say we were in the Super Bowl this morning and I was still shaking my head a little bit like ‘man, it really happened’. To believe that we are at this point and we are making these kinds of strides and this kind of progress is special. It’s very satisfying to be a part of that. That’s the reason I came here. I wanted to get back on the field and play but I wanted to help this organization change the perception that people had of it. I wanted to help change the community and it is a gratifying thing to be a part of that.”


On what Coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm have done for the team:

“I think that they have tried to instill in us confidence that I think you relate to a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think when people think of the Pittsburgh Steelers that’s what they think of: blue collar, hard working, tough, grind out kind of football team. I think that’s the mentality they have tried to instill in us from day one. I know a lot of people when you think of that mentality, you think two tight-ends, two backs, three yards and a cloud of dust but I think we have shaped that toughness around what we do well. Even though sometimes we go out there with four wides, it’s still that mentality of toughness, that physical and mental toughness. To be able to play our game and play it more physical. Like Anquan [Boldin], you see the toughness and the physicality he brings to the game. It’s that mentality. You see Larry [Fitzgerald]. If you want to look at the film of what he did last year to what he did this year and how physical he’s gotten in the way that he plays, those are just a couple examples of what I’m talking about. Playing the game with a mental and physical toughness no matter who’s on the field or what size you are, I think is something they have tried to instill in us from day one. It’s something I think they have brought in, and the reason that we have been able to overcome as much as we have overcome this year.”


On the importance of being a balanced offense:

“I think that is always a key to keep defenses off balance by changing it up and doing different things is always a key to your success. There’s always games where you can say you are going to run the ball 50 times, you run the ball 50 times and you win or you say you are going throw the ball 50 times, you throw the ball 50 times and you win. But I think the more you can keep the defense off balance, especially great defenses like the one we faced yesterday, like the one we are going to play in a couple of weeks, that is going to be a huge factor, is us being able to keep them off balance. But more importantly being able to be successful at what we do. I think that’s been the key not just calling this number of run plays and this number of pass plays. It’s when we call them we have been successful on both sides, we’ve moved the chains, we’ve put ourselves in favorable positions by doing it and I think that’s going to be the key in the Super Bowl. To be able to do that up against this defense is going to be a huge key to our success.”


On the importance of staying in character:

“I think it’s huge. I don’t know how you get out of character. We got here playing the game the way we’ve played it and we have to go do that. You have to say hey, this is our strength and we can put it up against their strength and be like alright here we go. Two best teams, you put up your strength and whoever is better that day is going to win. I don’t think you can go in and try to be something you’re not. Especially against a great football team, and expect to come out winning and to learn something different in two weeks. I think you go out and say this is what we are, and just like Coach [Whisenhunt] said, you go in there with a game plan and try to figure out weaknesses they may have and how that coincides with your strengths and attack them accordingly. Bottom line is you have to come out and play your opponent that given Sunday. It’s going to be fun but it’s going to be a huge challenge for us, it is a great football team we’re playing.”


On if there is any danger of a let down coming off of this much success:

“I hope not. We’re in the Super Bowl. There’s no time for a let down now. I don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know how you get to this point and have any kind of let down. Even though we may have exceeded expectations at this point, this is what you play the game for. If you can’t commit two more weeks and give everything you have to, I think you are in the wrong business.”


On his personal legacy:

“I hope that when I’m done everybody likes me. But that is not the reason that I do what I do. When I go out on that football field or when I am in this facility playing I want people to respect me as a guy who works his butt off, that tries to be great every time he does anything, and he wants the players around him to be great and he’ll do whatever he can to bring them to the point of greatness. That’s definitely what I want my legacy to be. That people respect me for the way I play the game and for the way I push guys or lead guys to be great as well. Hopefully in the process they like me also.”


On people debating if he’s a Hall of Fame player:

“They can debate all they want; I’m just in the Super Bowl again. I like that.”


On talking about his previous Super Bowl appearances and preparing for it:

“I definitely talk about it when I’m asked, I may take a couple opportunities along the way to just share some thoughts. I think the one thing that I learned from my first Super Bowl to my second was that you have to enjoy the process. It’s crazy, you are going to be pulled in a million different directions. There’s going to be media everywhere. There’s going to be people asking for autographs. The more uptight you get with it, the less you enjoy it and I think the harder it is for you to prepare and play because you are thinking about everything else. The more you embrace it and say, we’re in the Super Bowl, it is what it is and this is what is going to happen and this is what’s going to be there, you embrace it. If you don’t want to sign autographs, stay in your room. You are going to have to talk to the media so when you go in there be yourself and answer the questions, don’t let things get you uptight. Don’t let them get you out of rhythm. I think that is something I’ve learned in the process of having been through it. Don’t let it become a burden, understand how big of a blessing it is to be in the Super Bowl, enjoy every minute of it, stay loose, accept what comes with it and I think that way you can prepare and play better than if you just continually worry about the stuff outside as opposed to embracing it.”


On when he thinks the coaches decided to stick with him:

“I’m not really sure but I have to think it was pretty early in the process. I think the coaches understood in the short term after they got here what I could bring to the table. I think the one thing that was probably still a question was what I do on the football field, meaning that I hadn’t played for them. But I think they saw very early in practice and mini camps and stuff that I could still offer something to the team. The reason I say that is because of last year, I don’t know what week it was, week three or week four, they started making me a part of the process here. Even though Matt [Leinart] was starting they said, ‘Kurt offers us something, Kurt brings something to the table that we don’t have in Matt yet’. I think they understood pretty early that I could offer something on the football field and do something for this football team. Hopefully that’s just gotten stronger and stronger the more I’ve played and with some of the things that I’ve done. I think these coaches are pretty smart, even though they may have come in with a certain perception or idea of what I was based on what they heard or what he said or what a lot of people around the league expected because of the way my career had played out. I think when they saw me out on the football field and started to understand the way I knew the game and my experience. I think they realized pretty early that I could help this team if need be at any point in time.”

On how much longer he’ll be playing football:

“At least two more weeks [laughs].”



Cardinals G Reggie Wells

On if he will prepare any differently than he usually does for this game:

“It is the Super Bowl, one way or another. It is not going to affect the way I get ready for this game. I will have my fans I’m sure.”


On what Assistant Head Coach/ Offensive Line Coach Russ Grimm brought to the team:

“He is so prepared in every aspect of the game. He is not just an O-line coach. He is really just as good of a coordinator as anybody as far as how he teaches us what to look for and how to study the opponent.”


On if Russ Grimm brings some of the Steelers’ toughness to the Cardinals:

“I don’t know if it was the Steelers toughness. I think it was just Russ’s toughness. The kind of player he was with the teams that he was on. That is who he is.”


On how eager he is to get back to work on Wednesday:

“I’m taking it day-by-day. We can’t over-hype anything; over-emphasis anything. We just need to keep preparing the way we have been preparing. That has been working for us to this point, so there is no sense to change that right now.”


On how important it is to have a good week of practice this week before leaving for Tampa:

“It has been important since we really went back at it after a few of those losses. It is just a matter of getting ready for the game. We will be there.”


On how the team got to this point and improved:

“Throughout the whole season we have just gotten better and better. Our preparation has gotten better and better, and our execution has gotten better and better. It is no surprise. I know a lot of people in the country are surprised with the success we have had and don’t know how to react to it. It is what it is. We have earned everything we have gotten.”


On Coach Ken Whisenhunt putting the fourth-down play on the offensive lines shoulders:

“It was a huge call. They had a few stops against New York the week before on fourth and short. We had gone over that play a few times over the last few weeks. It is something we put into the offense as the weeks progressed. Everybody believed that we wouldn’t be denied.”


On what last night was about for him after the game:

“I stayed at the house. I think just about everybody was with their families because you want to be with the people who have been with you throughout all the good times and the bad times. It was just a great moment to be able to share with everybody, especially if you were able to get somebody onto the field. It was just a night of celebration and we have one more to go.”


On if the fact that the team is going to the Super Bowl has hit him yet:

“No, it hasn’t. It hasn’t been that sense of surprise and shock. We have had confidence this whole playoff stretch. If somebody felt surprised, then it is almost like they didn’t expect to win this game. We fully intended and expected to win all of these games that we have been playing. We expected to go to Tampa.”


On what he expects over the next two weeks:

“I don’t know. It is a lot of guys’ first time in here. Obviously Kurt (Warner) has been there. We just have to take it how we have been taking it the past few games and not really make the game bigger than what it is going to be. Obviously, it is the biggest of big, but what it boils down to is that it is going to be 60 minutes of football.”


On the importance of having all five offensive linemen start the entire season:

“Anytime you can develop a cohesion with the guys you are playing next to, it helps with just how you are going to execute out there, how your running backs are going to read things, how your quarterback is going to know how certain protections are going to look. We have had guys who have stayed healthy. We had guys who went out and battled through good games and bad games. We have been a consistent group here all year. We know what we can do whenever we get out there.”


On what he thinks the line is capable of doing:

“I don’t think it is so much what our game plan is because I think we are prepared every week. I just think, when you look at who we are being matched up against and who we are going against, the success we have against them… we play against the best units in the league and have been able to get off good numbers. It is just a matter of knowing what our talent level is and knowing that we can go out there and play whatever game we need to play. Whether it is running the football or passing the football.”



Cardinals QB Brian St. Pierre

On his thoughts about President-Elect Barack Obama’s inauguration:

“I think it is a great thing. I actually have a couple of people going down there to it. It is a special time in this country. It is kind of one of those things that is kind of history there and history here. It is just all coming together. I think it means a lot to a lot of people in this locker room.”


On what seems more improbable: The Cardinals going to the Super Bowl or having an African-American President:

“That is a tough one. I am happy for both. I am happy to be a part of what we are a part of—going to the Super Bowl.”


On how starting QB Kurt Warner balances being a “nice-guy” and a strong leader:

“It is a very delicate balance. You want everyone to respect you and you do that by how you lead and how you play. He obviously does a great job of that. You want to be friends with everyone, but sometimes you have to get in a guy’s face and tell him, ‘we have to do it this way,’ or ‘this is the way I am going to show you and you just follow.’ He is really good about that. I think everyone respects him in this locker room for what he has accomplished and what he has done this year as well. I don’t think there is anybody who has a bad word about Kurt.”


Cardinals C Lyle Sendlein

On if he is bringing a large number of friends and family from Arizona along with him to Tampa:

“Yes. I have a bunch of family coming out. All of my family lives here, so it will be fun.”


On what it is like to be a part of this team after growing up in Arizona:

“It is very surreal. It is amazing. Growing up here in the Valley, being a fan of the ’93 Suns when they went to the (NBA) Finals. The ’01 Diamondbacks. It is amazing being a part of an influential team because I remember how exciting that was for me growing up here in Arizona as a professional sports fan.”


On how the Cardinals struggled as a franchise when he was growing up:

“They were competitive, but I’m glad that we are going in the right direction. It was a struggle for awhile, but the stadium really rejuvenated this whole organization, especially the fans. It made it easier for them to come out and support us.”


On his journey of being a backup here and now starting for a Super Bowl team:

“I just come to work every day with my head down and try to do anything I can to become a winner. That is why I play this game; for wins. If I was backing up, I wouldn’t care as long as we were winning.”



Cardinals DT Bryan Robinson

On if he feels like this will be his last chance to reach a Super Bowl:

“Every year after 30—you guys love to remind everybody our age every year after 30. At this stage in your career, you don’t know how much time you have left. Kurt Warner will be the first guy to tell you that you don’t know. You just try to make the best of it while you are here. I think Ken (Whisenhunt) did a great job in bringing veterans in and putting them in at the right spots. It has helped us out thus far.”


On the team playing the underdog role:

“It is for all the marbles right now. We are going to the Super Bowl. I said it last week; it has a real nice ring to it. It doesn’t matter. At this stage, I think that everybody is aware of the Arizona Cardinals. We will see how much farther—get some mileage out of this underdog thing. It is for everything. It doesn’t matter if we are 20-point underdogs. We are going to hype it up so that we are 20-point underdogs. As long as we can get the negative vibes from the outside, it makes us real good.”


On if Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt has instilled a “Steelers attitude”:

“Just toughness. Ken wants a physical team on both sides of the ball at all times. He felt like we were getting away from that a little bit, and he said that we had to get that back before the playoffs. He said, ‘If you guys want to play one game, then go home and watch everybody else, then continue to practice and play the way you have been playing.’ I think everybody said, ‘We are a physical style team and we could probably do better if we take that approach.’ I think that has been the difference with running the ball better and stopping the run. We are just playing real physical.”


On what he thinks practice will be like this week:

“I’m hoping it is going to be the same. I think Ken (Whisenhunt) is kind of superstitious. I am hoping that everything is going to be the same. I don’t know when we are going to leave to go down to Tampa, but I am pretty sure that (it will be the same). We are here today. I asked if we are going to get tomorrow off? No. Everything is the same hopefully and we will just keep the same approach.”


On the team letting the Eagles back in the game and then coming back to win on the last drive:

“We talked about it at halftime, that Donovan (McNabb) and them were going to have their best push in the third quarter. We truly felt that. We felt like we had to comeback. I think that was the first time in the third quarter that we allowed a team to just go out there (and beat us). I think they had 165 yards, I believe, in that third quarter. One of the coolest things was that nobody panicked on the sidelines. We knew the sense of urgency, but it wasn’t really a panic, and there is a difference. I hope you guys realize that there is a difference in that. Anquan Boldin just looked at me in their last drive and said, ‘B-Rob, we got this.’ That was reassuring coming from one of your offensive leaders that ‘we got this. You guys have been out there a long time, we got it.’ And they did it.”



Cardinals TE Ben Patrick

On if the idea of going to the Super Bowl has sunk in yet:

“No. You can only dream about that. Growing up, even in college when you are watching it, you think, ‘maybe I could go to the Super Bowl,’ but it is still not a real feeling. Hopefully, by the time we get to Tampa, it will sink in.”


On how hard it is to get back to work knowing that your next game is the Super Bowl:

“You just try to embrace the moment for what it is, but you have time to put everything in perspective when it is all over with. We have to stay focused for another two weeks and put in another good performance and hope we come out victorious.”


On how many text messages and missed calls he had after the game:

“I literally, and this is not an exaggeration, had 127 missed texts. There is no way to even begin to try to respond to all of those. I responded to a few, but that was it.”


On what it felt like on the field after the game:

“It was electric, a lot of different emotions. Throughout the year, the tight ends as a group have struggled. Blame was put on us, and we took a lot of blame on ourselves. For us to put together some pretty good performances the last couple of games when it really counted was huge for our group. I am just happy for the group as a whole.”


On how it felt in the end-zone when the two-point conversion attempt came his way:

“Just please catch it. It seemed like I was open forever. I know it was a pretty quick play, but when I came open, I was just like, ‘Please catch it. Please catch it.’”



Cardinals LB Gerald Hayes

On how he approaches the next two weeks:

“The same as always. We have a lot of cameras in our faces right now, but it is the same. You can’t get distracted by a bunch of other stuff. You just have to do what you do and keep moving forward.”


On how loud University of Phoenix Stadium was yesterday:

“It was the loudest I have heard it. With the extra stands that they put in, fans were just going crazy. It was a great experience to enjoy yesterday to get that win.”


On being an underdog for the fourth straight game:

“I had a brother of mine say that somebody had a sign up saying, ‘We are going to laugh our way as underdogs all the way to a championship.’ Don’t quote me on that. But we are going to laugh our way as underdogs to the championship. Just take it as that, just go in there and do what we do best.


On what the past 24 hours have been like to him emotionally:

“It means a lot, but it really hasn’t set it yet. We still have to finish. The job is not done yet. When the job is done, then I can celebrate and do what I want to do after.”


On how his linebacker group has been playing lately:

“We have been playing well. We are not big names, but we got the job done. We got to this point thus far. I don’t want to talk too much about what we can do or how we were doing because we still have a job to finish. We are doing well. We just have to keep studying and doing the things that got us here.”



Cardinals FB Terrelle Smith

On if the lack of national respect has hurt the team mentally:

“We take everything that is said in a positive way. When you have a team that is positive and continues to be positive and work positive every day, there is not going to be negativity. That is how we want to look at it.”


On how many calls he has received in the past 24 hours:

“I haven’t even answered my phone. There are so many calls, text messages, and emails, it is unbelievable. I think I have heard from more kids that I went to elementary school with than people that have actually been around lately.”


On what it means to his family to be here after the recent loss of his mother:

“They were all with me yesterday. They came on the field and it was just an emotional day for us. Remembering what Mom told us and now it is all coming true. He was laughing when the Eagles went up. He went to school with Quintin Demps. He was just saying that everybody was rooting Quinton on and then we came back and won the game. He said he was emotional. There is all kind of stuff that I have in memory of my mom and what I have been through. It helps me get through the day and through the games. I just think that we need to work like we have been doing.”


On what the fans have meant to the team:

“We get more honks outside than anything. We can’t really see them, but we hear each and every honk when we are out there practicing. All you fans out there, keep honking when you pass by our facility. We really appreciate it.”


On what it means to have former Steelers coaches on the sidelines to face the Steelers in the Super Bowl:

“I think that he brought a piece of what they have been doing for years and brought it over here. Now we are going against them. Last year we played them and it was a good game. This will be a good game. If anyone knows how to beat them, I know he does. I am looking forward to it. I want to go out there and have a good game.”