(On if he can believe he’s here right now after all this time) “Can I believe it now? Now I can (smiling). It’s Monday, this is the day I think you really get to a point when you start believing that you’re finally here. I think that all the dreams that you dream about have came true. So, I’m very excited. This is a great moment for me.”(On what struck him today as the team arrived) “Not having to drive to the airport (laughing). That’s the first thing that struck me. Normally we have to drive to the airport and park our car, but, we didn’t have to do it this time…we got on the bus, and I think that’s when it really struck me.”
(On the fact that the Super Bowl is here in his home state) “I thought a couple of years ago I was going to be able to play in Houston but that didn’t work out too well. We ended up losing to Philly on a 4th and 26 that everyone keeps talking about. But, it’s good to be at home. I think to play in front of your home crowd…this is what you always dream of. You always say if you don’t get to play for your home team at least you get to play in your hometown, so. I get to play in my hometown and get to enjoy every moment that comes around.”
(On what it would mean to him to get a ring here in his hometown) “Oh it’s going to mean everything. I think this is the part that you dream of. This is your legacy, and when you’ve played as long as I’ve played that’s what you fight for and that ring on my finger would be gorgeous. It’d be a beautiful thing.”
(On if he ever thought in his mind from the loss in the NFC Championship game a couple of years ago that this moment would never come) “I don’t never think you doubt it. It’s just hard getting here. I think when you constantly keep fighting and fighting and fighting things seem to turn around….and it turned around this year for us. Now, we’re sitting exactly where everybody in our organization wanted to be and that’s in the Super Bowl.”
(On if he can say a message that he can send to all of his Latin-American fans (referenced him having many) “I’d just tell them that it’s going to be a show, so enjoy. You get an opportunity to watch one of the biggest games that everyone in the world watches and it’s going to be on a great stage. Everyone around the world will be watching this game, so. We hope to give them a great show.”
(On what it took to get here and if he can speak on that) “I think…it’s just hard work. I think hard work pays off. I think every year people always told me that they thought I was going to be done playing the game, but, you seem to always have to bounce back. This year I had an injury with my quad and was able to bounce back late in the year and play well so I think that’s what you got to do.”
(On what does it mean for a Milby High School SWAC player to be playing in the Super Bowl now) “Well you don’t get too many opportunities. I think the last person I remember playing in the tournament that came from Alcorn was Steve McNair and played in the Super Bowl. That’s a great friend of mine, but it means everything. Now I got everyone back in Mississippi so it’s a good thing.
(On if he has a big crowd of his supporters from Houston coming out to the game) “Yeah my whole family is coming…if they can’t come to the game they’ll be at my house so it’s going to be a good thing (laughter).
(On Aaron Rodgers and all the questioning that he had to deal with taking over as QB) “I think a lot of people probably doubted him. When all the things were going up and down the rollercoaster with Brett (Favre) I just think it got to a point where Aaron (Rodgers) was a better man than most people would’ve handled it. He handled it well and he knew he was going to get his opportunity. I think that’s all he wanted. I think in ’05 he felt like he should’ve been the first pick in the draft that year and unfortunately the Packers took him late in the round, but he hasn’t let the organization down. And that’s what you got to do, once you get your opportunity you got to make the best of it and I think Aaron (Rodgers) has done everything that he can.”
(On how this receiver group that he plays with now compare to all of them that he’s played with in the past) “This is probably the best group I’ve played with. All around, everybody brings something different to the table. We always talk about how it goes. In order you go with Brett Swain, you go with Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Greg Jennings, and then myself. They call me the old man of the group so I have to lead the group but we got a bunch of guys…right now if they left the Green Bay Packers they could go play anywhere in the National Football League and be starters. I’m just glad they’re on my side.”
(On Greg Jennings and how good has his development been) “I’ve seen him play over my career and he’s going to get better and better. I don’t think it’s to a point where you just level out. I think you just continue to get better. And when you get into the upper ages it’s just—I guess you got to be consistent and right now he’s playing at a high level and he’s dangerous when he catches the ball.”
(On how far away is his home from here) “Probably 20-25 minutes something like that.”
(On how does he prepare for a guy like Ike Taylor) “I think Ike is a good corner. I’ve seen him play and I’ve played against him over my career. He’s one of those guys that’ll come down and try to put his hands on you. He feels like if he can get his hands on you he’s going to stop you. But we love to bump and run, we love the man-to-man coverage. One thing that we always say is that we don’t run away from anyone. I think that Ike is a great player I don’t take anything for granted but you still got to go out there and play the game and we know that it’s going to be a great matchup between all of us. They’ve got great corners, we’ve got great receivers. So we’ve got to all play.”
(On if he’s taken time to reflect on all of the time he put in to get here to this moment) “I don’t think I have yet. I think when the game is over, I think that’s when you really go back and you start reminiscing all the old times to where you’ve become today. I think that….your past makes who you are today and I think all the things I’ve done at Milby HS and Alcorn has made me the person I am today.”
(On how does he stay focus with all that is going on right now with media day and the major influx of media to deal with) “It’s just more of you guys that’s it. In Green Bay we have our media group and it’s not as big as this but I think you get to a point where you don’t try to run from it. We can’t run from it like we run from you guys in Green Bay, so, we get to hide in the shower and all of that stuff but…this is an opportunity so you can get your face out there and let people know exactly how much you enjoy it. This is the biggest stage on Earth right now.”
(On past opportunities to advance to the Super Bowl) “Well I think sometimes a lot of these guys weren’t even here when we had those games. So, you just got to go out there and play I think you look at the past and you think when you’re going to get there again and it’s unfortunate…when you do get there you got to win it all and that’s kind of what my (approach) was. A lot of guys, when we went to Philly this year a lot of guys were like ‘what happened on the 4th and 26’…because some of these guys were still in high school. So, it’s kind of crazy that these guys don’t know, but once we told them what happened, those guys said well that’s the past. The past is the past.”
(On what kind of approach he has going in and if he’s adamant about not reflecting on the past at this point) “I don’t know. This one is not done. I think the biggest picture is putting that Super Bowl ring on your finger. We went on the road this year and won three hard games that probably no one expected us to win, but, we played well on the road and when you play well on the road you’re going to accomplish a lot of goals and we accomplished to win three games in a row and now we’re here.”
(On what was it like on the flight when it landed knowing that he has a chance to get the ring and what was going through his mind) “Nothing, I was laughing and joking…we were all joking around. So, I wasn’t thinking of anything. Before you knew it we were on the ground. But once I got off my wife and kids called me and told me that the (media) were there and they were watching TV. She said, ‘Wave at me when you get off the plane,’ and I did. After that my son said, ‘Daddy get back off and wave again.’ (laughter) Then I told him, ‘No, I can’t do it,’ and then my daughter said, ‘Well, Daddy, do it for me’ (laughing). I still couldn’t do it for her either, so I’m going to go home and giving my wife and kids a big hug.”
(On his team’s chances to win and what he thinks going into the game) “I think we’re hot and we’re playing well. You get to a point where your confidence level is high and our confidence level is high. When people doubted that we weren’t going to win, we won and that’s kind of how our mindset is now. We have another game. We know that this is the biggest game right now of your career that you could play in. We know that for us it’s just another game and we have to go out there and play ball. If we do our job…and the way Mike (McCarthy) has always stressed, we have to be confident, you have to play tough and you have to be sound. But the biggest thing with us is playing different.”
(On when the team reached that confidence level) “Well I think we took that on in March and said that at the end of the year where we want to be is in the postseason regardless of how we get there we have to get there. We always stressed that you have to get 10 wins first. We struggled early and we felt like, ‘When is this ever going to hit?’ We knew that we had to win the last two games to get in. The confidence level is high and guys played well and next thing you know we knew we had to go on the road to get where we are today and we’re all excited. It’s a great journey.”
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