NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS MEDIA SESSION - WIDE RECEIVER CHAD OCHOCINCO - Ingles

Super Bowl XLVI – Wednesday, February 1, 2012

(on what it means to him to make it to the Super Bowl) “This playoff run, this Super Bowl is very meaningful. Many would say it didn’t go the way I would like it, not up to my expectations. Everybody can see that, but I don’t think this season negates a career of what I consider greatness, worth of fun. To get to this point quietly, most people call it bittersweet, but it’s a blessing. People will play this game for years, for years and many names, many greats without having a chance to sniff the Super Bowl. To be able to be here, regardless of how this season went is a blessing, period. Especially where I’ve come from, what I’ve been through. To get to this, not just this stage, but the NFL in general. I’m happy, it could be my last one. There’s no reason to hang my head, there’s no reason to be upset. It is what it is and I’m still smiling. I’ve been smiling all year.”

(on if he can have fun with this Super Bowl week) “Yeah, most definitely. I can still have fun. I sort of have to feel my way through it first. This season’s been, it’s more of a feel my way through it. It’s a learning process. You just can’t come into something new and just bust the door down and say, ‘Hey, I’m here.’”

(on if he followed the Bengals this year) “I followed the receivers.”

(on if he was surprised at what A.J. Green did as a rookie) “Surprised? No. No reason to be surprised that somebody that I’ve watched, somebody that I’ve studied, knowing what he’s done in college and knowing what he’s capable of doing in the league. What he did this year was no surprise.”

(on what he thinks Green does best) “He’s really good. He’s still raw. That’s the scary part. He’s still raw, but he’s a great talent and he’s only going to get better. Especially the tools he has, he’s only going to get better as time goes on. You don’t drop off.”

(on if he has talked to Mike Brown since he was traded) “No man. I think if they haven’t mentioned it, I sent everyone a letter, a ‘thank you’ note. I think that’s the best I can do. Everybody who had anything to do with me being there, I hope they have it framed.”

(on if he is surprised Mike Brown traded him) “No. It’s a business. That’s just the way it goes. Mike was good to me. The city was good to me. The media we had our ups and downs. I made it fun. The fans were epic for 10 straight years. Of course, I had my riffs and raffs. Like any human being I’m not perfect. Other than that, there’s nothing bad I can actually say, period.”

(on what it’s like that he is finally at the Super Bowl) “It’s cool. Again, I just explained to somebody early that it’s a blessing to be on this stage. So many players play this game for such a long time, some of the greats. The Marinos, Barry Sanders, I don’t think he was ever able to grace this stage, so many. So just to be able to be here is a blessing to me. What I do is I think back to all I’ve been through just to get to the NFL in general. Everybody, of course myself also, is emphasizing individual statistics this year about me not having a great season, me not producing in my normal way. But for some reason it’s just so odd that I changed my ways, I approach the situation a lot differently and all the sudden I finally get to that stage. What is it? What do you want to take? One hundred catches, 1,000 yards and be at home enjoying watching from home or not have the same numbers and have a chance of playing on the biggest stage of your life. What do you want? There’s one of them I’ve already done already. This is something I’ve never done. And I’m actually doing it. I’m not playing a video game.”

(on if it will be hard for him if they win the Super Bowl on Sunday but he doesn’t play) “Why would it be hard? When you’re part of a team, I mean there’s nothing hard about it at all.”