Colts Quotes From Tuesday's Super Bowl Media
Day
**Quarterback Peyton Manning
**
*(on if in his dreams he ever thought he would play the
Saints in the Super Bowl)
*"No, probably not. I had no idea I would ever get to play in the NFL. So I have been counting my blessings ever day since I have been able to play competitive football. The fact that I am in my second Super Bowl I consider myself very lucky. Having to wait nine years in order to play in my first Super Bowl certainly taught me to not take anything for granted. So I feel fortunate to be back. Every three years you go to a Super Bowl, I might run out of eligibility. So I need to try to take advantage of this one and hopefully we can win this game. I think certainly after you have gone through some struggles as an early player, early in your career going 3-13 as a rookie and having some disappointing playoff losses, it does teach you a lot about how special it is to be able to play in this game. I think our veteran players realize that and I have taught that to these younger players. Although, we have a lot of younger players like Joseph Addai for example, Antoine Bethea that are both in their fourth year and this is their second Super Bowl. For these guys it is their own path. For me, it is very special and I understand just how unique the opportunity is."
(on if you ever have too much time to prepare with having the extra week)
"It is certainly a great question and I think there is a real important timeline there as to when you get that feeling, 'Hey I'm ready. I have seen enough, now it is time to go play.' I have never put a certain deadline on having to have that feeling. Obviously you hope to get it before kickoff, but sometimes in years past and during a playoff game or a big game or maybe a season opener, sometimes it happens the Wednesday before a game or sometimes it might not happen until Saturday before the game. As I am watching tape all of a sudden you say, 'You know what, I got a pretty good idea, I got a good feeling right now.' That is all you want is a good feeling, going into a game. The Saints may come out and play something entirely different than what we have seen, but you have to be prepared for the unexpected, but I am still on tapes right now. I am still studying, I am still learning. This is an unfamiliar opponent. This is a team with a lot of players we have not played against in this game. So, the more you can get familiar with these guys the more comfortable you hope to feel."
(on his relationship with Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore)
"Well, I'll always be indebted to Tom Moore. Being my offensive coordinator for twelve years our relationship is quite strong. We have been through a lot together. I have great trust in him. I feel like I have earned his trust as well. I think that carries onto the field. He gives me great freedom out there and puts a lot of confidence in me. He tells me before the game, 'Hey if you see something out there, you call it. You change it and I have your back.' That puts a lot of confidence in you as a quarterback. Some coaches tell their quarterbacks, 'Hey you can change the play, but it better work.' That is not confidence, that is a threat. I do appreciate the confidence that Tom puts in me. He and I spend a lot of time talking together during the week about what we are thinking together. So I think we are on the same page throughout the game. I don't think I have ever changed a play that has surprised Tom. Like I said, I have certain limitations as well. Now, I am not allowed to change to the double reverse pass back to the quarterback. I have to keep it within the system. I have said this before, I don't know if there will ever be an assistant coach in the Hall of Fame, but if there is one, Tom Moore has got to be the first one in. He has paid his dues. His goal, at least what he has always told me, I am sure he at least had aspirations at one time to be a head coach, but his goal was to be the best assistant coach there was. He has been a coordinator most places he has been and he has been one of the top coordinators around. I will be indebted to him."
Tight End Dallas Clark
(on what he remembers about playing in Miami earlier this season)
"A lot has happened since then. We have gone through a lot of different changes as a team. We've experienced a lot of things as a team. That's what we needed to do. We needed to grow and mature as a team and get that bond. Week two was way too early to have any idea of what the team was made of and what we were about. We learned a lot about ourselves. We had a lot of close games. We had games where we had to come back. We had games that the defense won for us, that the offense won for us, specials teams. Everyone contributed. That's what's special about this team. The fact that we've been able to win different ways has been important… We weren't banking on one phase to win games. We had everyone contributing. That's a solid thing."
(on whether anything is different this year as opposed to the last time the Colts were in the Super Bowl)
"Nothing really. I think our maturity level is higher. Going to the hotel, it's not new anymore. We've done this. It's been a real easy transition from going to working out in Indy then coming down here – being in the same hotel and pretty much doing the same thing. It's been a real nice transition. Last time we came down here everything was new. Having experienced this, you adapt a little bit easier. It definitely helps the guys who have been here. Hopefully the rookies take this all in because this is what it's about. It's a special day."
(on wide receiver Austin Collie)
"It's one of those things that each year it is going to be something new for him. He has done a good job of taking every new experience and situation as a true professional. Both he and Pierre (Garcon) have done a great job of having a huge playoff game and staying humble, aggressive and wanting to learn more and get better. The great thing about those guys is that they know that they don't have it figured out. They're still learning. That's a sign of a good, humble athlete that's going to keep working hard, not let the attention get to them and think that they've arrived and that they can take a couple of days off. They're still hungry and trying to get better as a player."
Linebacker Clint Session
(On if the experience of guys on the team having been in a Super Bowl is a factor in the game)
"I can see it on the guys' faces that have been here before, they almost make it feel like home, like we're supposed to be here. It's definitely a factor. Guys know what to expect. When you look at the younger guys on the team that have never been here before, like myself, you think about all these plans and wanting to have fun and go to Miami. Then the other guys are keeping you in perspective and letting you know that, 'Hey, this is a business trip.' You come down here to win a football game and that's what you have to have. You don't even need it from the coaches, you have it from your peers."
Wide Receiver Reggie Wayne
(On if he's still a Saints fan)
"Deep down inside I'm still a Saints fan. Growing up in New Orleans, it's like you really have no choice. I've seen a lot of brown paper bags in my lifetime and just to see those guys where they are today is just outstanding, the things that they're doing for that city. A lot of times, coming home from church with my mom and sitting down with my dad, the game was blacked out and we had to listen to the game on the radio. I've seen Bobby Hebert, I've seen John Fourcade. I've seen so many names come through there. I remember Saturday night, getting ready for the game, wanting to see Eric Martin have a big game. So I'm a huge fan of the Saints. I always have been. It's going to be tough to take that away from them, but just to see what those guys are doing this year and the years prior to this, keeping that city together, keeping that city on the map, it's outstanding."
(On the Colts' rookies)
"They've been big for us. They've been stepping up to the plate all year, making things happen. They work so hard. They want to do well. Every time you see them in meetings, they're taking notes and doing whatever it takes to be good. That's all you can ask for, guys that take the time out of their busy schedule and put all the focus into watching film and going on the field and making things happen. They've showed up for us. One thing about them is they've been pretty healthy all year and they've been able to have an opportunity to make things happen, so we're going to need them one more time this year. They've been playing big for us. After like Week 6, we told them you're not a rookie anymore. You got your feet wet and we're going to need you to really focus in on the task at hand and make things happen, and they've done that all year."
(On the best part of Super Bowl XLI)
"Winning. Winning, winning, winning. That was the beauty of it. It was two weeks of a bunch of media. I remember after the game was over, I'm celebrating with my teammates and it's 15 minutes after the game and I'm still seeing Chicago Bears walking off the field. That's a feeling that you understand is not easy to handle, so the best way to not experience that is to win the game. That's what our focus is and hopefully we can get it done."
Center Jeff Saturday
(On his favorite part leading up to the game itself)
"It's exciting. Obviously one of the greatest moments is at kickoff when you see all of the flashbulbs going off and watching that. When the teams get introduced and you look up and it's all based around team, there's no individual stuff. It's all the teams running out; they are showing team videos. That's a pretty special time to watch all the hard work that has been put in for this."
(On if he can imagine snapping to a quarterback other than Peyton Manning)
"I've been extremely blessed and fortunate throughout my career to be with a quarterback like (Colts QB) Peyton (Manning). Just the time and preparation he puts in week in and week out, the type of performances he puts on the field, he's one of the best to ever play the game. To be able to line up in front of him week in and week out, it's been a pleasure."
(On Colts Senior Offensive Line Coach Howard Mudd)
"You can't say enough about what kind of coach he is. He's a fantastic coach. He's kept us as one of the top groups every year that he has coached us. He demands excellence and efficiency on the offensive line. There is no give in him and I have a lot of respect for that. He calls everybody to play to their performance that he wants them to play at and he won't accept anything less than that and that's made us the O-line we are."
(On being with Howard Mudd for so long and on his unique coaching style)
"Obviously, I have been with him forever. I think I have been the player with him the longest in his career. I call him 'old crazy' because he can be that way. When he's on the sidelines, he's going through his hair, he's throwing his hat down, he's doing all kinds of crazy stuff, but you know that there's a method to his madness. He truly knows what he's doing as an offensive line coach. He's been an all-decade player, pro bowl player; this guy has been in the trenches. He knows what it's about so I think that lends a little bit of credibility to his coaching style as well."
(On Colts General Manager Bill Polian)
"He was six-time Executive of the Year or something like that, and I think that speaks for itself. The guy knows how to build a football team and a franchise, and he does it the right way. He brings guys who are good guys in. He doesn't bring problem children in. That's the way he runs this football team. He expects you to act like you're supposed to act on and off the field and he demands that. That has given us an ability…we don't have distractions, we don't have issues off the field. We go play football and that's what he wants us to do."
Running Back Joseph Addai
(On what advice he gives to first time Super Bowl participants)
"The thing I tell them is to understand everything that they are trying to do. You can't play better, you can't be the player that you are if you don't understand what is going on. So, the bigger thing is just getting in your playbook and just understanding what we are trying to do and trying to understand the concept of what is going on."
