Compiled by Billy Wellner and Arthur Arkush
Feb. 8, 2008

Random quotes from around the league

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, quoted in the San Jose Mercury News on the honor of playing in the Pro Bowl as a rookie (Peterson is one of three rookies participating in the Pro Bowl; Joe Thomas of the Browns and Patrick Willis of the 49ers being the other two): "It means a lot to get to the Pro Bowl, especially as a rookie. It tells you about the talent we have and how hard the guys worked. We have a mind-set of being young players coming in to have an impact. This season was a dream come true and something I definitely felt I could accomplish. And definitely it comes with a prize—a trip to Hawaii." Peterson went on to say: “Hey, we're living a dream. This is something you love and you prepared all your life for it. You get the experience of being around the greatest players in the world."

Cardinals GM Rod Graves, commenting on the contract extension offered to WR Larry Fitzgerald Thursday in hopes of lowering his salary cap figure next year, as quoted on azcardinals.com: “Larry has proven himself to be an elite player, and the offer would put him among the elite players.We feel good about our offer.” Graves added: “His cap number will have an affect with how we proceed in free agency.”

Eagles TE L.J. Smith, quoted on topix.net after having the franchise tag placed on him Thursday: ''Any player wants a long-term deal [because] you want security in your job and to position your family [financially]. I'm OK with [the franchise tag] right now. I definitely would have preferred to have gotten a [long-term] deal done. But my agent [Brian Mackler] is still talking to them, and will talk to other teams, so who knows?'' Smith went on to say this about the injuries that hampered him during the 2007 season: ''I guess we lost some money. We've never really talked about how much. But the important thing is the injuries I had this season were not extensive; they won't keep me from doing anything. I'm working out, feeling healthy.''

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, delighted with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s decisison to accept a new three-year deal to remain a Giant, as quoted in the New York Post: “Steve is a hard worker who has quickly earned the respect of the players and coaches. And he has earned the consideration he is being given. Needless to say, I am happy that he will be remaining here.”

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008

Seahawks GM Tim Ruskell, quoted on TheNewsTribune.com regarding signing free agents and potential draftees after naming secondary coach Jim Mora the successor to head coach Mike Holmgren in 2009: “It’s nice to be able to tell those players when they say, ‘What’s going to happen after Coach (Mike) Holmgren?’ We can say, ‘Here is the guy that’s going to be your next head coach. Why don’t you meet him yourself?’ The same with the draft; all those questions will come to us in our interviews and we can answer that with certainty and show stability and unity.”

Super Bowl referee Mike Carey, recalling the near sack that turned into the game-changing play where Eli Manning, with under a minute remaining, narrowly escapes two Patriots defenders to get off a 32-yard pass to WR David Tyree, as quoted in the Daily News: "It didn't quite happen. But boy it was close. I anticipated a sack. I didn't assume that was going to happen, but rarely do you see a quarterback escape when he's got that much weight on his back and being dragged by two or three guys who had a hold of him. I could see his head was just straight ahead. He was trying to break free with desperation. Then all of a sudden he spun out and then he started to come right back at me." Carey added: "Luckily for him, he was driving forward instead of them pulling him backwards. And I was just waiting for that little pendulum swing where, right as they grab him the quarterback usually gets a little bit forward and then they yank him back. Once he starts to be yanked back, that's when it's really imminent that it's grasp and control, or just a sack."

Broncos CB Champ Bailey, endorsing new Broncos defensive coordinator Bob Slowik, as quoted on DenverPost.com: "To tell the truth, I think this is a year too late. Nothing against (Jim) Bates, but Slowik is the right fit for this defense." Bailey added: "He's been here for a while, and he knows how it all works. I think there will be more consistency. I think Bates was a good coach, but we didn't have the personnel for what he ran. It just didn't work. We were all over the place. He'd have starters get cut. It was no consistency there."

Bills owner Ralph Wilson, quoted in Democrat & Chronicle when asked if his team would ever relocate to Toronto: "Hey, I can't speculate what's going to happen in the future. But don't worry. Don't worry right now. Does that answer your questions?"

Jaguars RB Fred Taylor, finally able to shed his reputation as fragile, as quoted on starbulletin.com: "The average career span of an NFL player is about 2 1/2 years, even less for a running back, because we take a pounding. But I think the way you judge a running back is by his toughness. I was considered fragile early in my career. But I never felt that way, and I've proven I'm not. I had a whole lot of injuries, and bouncing through those, I think my character showed -- based on persistence and the will and desire to play." Taylor went on to say that being injured early in his career probably prolonged it as well: "I definitely believe God does everything for a reason. Having those early injuries, it taught me how to become a better person as I became a better pro. There's an order you have to do things in. Right now speaking through my experience, I get to share that with my younger teammates, like Maurice Jones-Drew, Adrian Peterson, telling them you have to take care of your body, because it will take care of you."

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, now able to look back and smile on his heavily-criticized decision to play his starters week 17 against the Patriots, as quoted in the New York Post: “I really felt, and our players did, too, that if you’re going to go into something that is hard, why not prepare with something that’s very hard. We believed that we had a great chance to win in that game.” Coughlin added: “As I told the players, there would be nothing but positives out of the game. As it turns out, it was a great bridge for us from the regular season and into the playoffs, because the caliber of our play just continued to escalate.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, quoted on tennesean.com regarding the continued troubles of suspended Titans CB Adam “Pacman” Jones (Jones was allegedly involved in a strip club altercation last month though charges were never filed):
“I am disappointed in that. I have often said that it is actions that speak louder than words, and that you control those actions. And I don’t think Adam has demonstrated that he understands the message clearly and that he is making the correct decisions.”

Giants DT Barry Cofield, content with the defensive pressure that his team applied to MVP QB Tom Brady, as quoted in the Daily News: "We beat him up pretty good. He definitely hadn't been hit like that. You could see a little frustration. You could hear him doing a little barking. He was visibly upset. Cofield went on to say: "Man, it was kind of fun seeing the Stetson Man, the cover boy, Tom Brady picking himself up."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, quoted on macon.com regarding the ruling Monday that allows jailed Atlanta Falcon QB Michael Vick to keep all but $3.75 million of the nearly $20 million in bonus money he received from the Atlanta Falcons: "It makes no sense that an individual who willfully violates his contract is entitled to be paid tens of millions of dollars even though he is in jail and providing no services whatsoever to his employer."

Monday, Feb. 4, 2008

Giants DE Michael Strahan, praising Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, as quoted by The Associated Press: “He is the two-minute king. When we got the ball, I got everyone together and was begging them to repeat to me that we were going to win 17-14, and that was because we believe in Eli and we know he's going to do it. He's done it time and time again. Now, it's unbelievable: A Manning last year and a Manning this year are Super Bowl champions.”

Patriots DE Richard Seymour, reflecting on his team’s missed opportunity in losing to the Giants 17-14 last night in Super Bowl XLII, as quoted in the New York Post: "We had an opportunity to be special, and we let it slip away. We came so close to being special. Now, we're second class."

Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, quoted on Newsday.com after the Patriots' bid for a perfect season came up one game short: "The Patriots had a great season, but it shows just how difficult it is to go undefeated. Our players and our fans feel that much more proud of our accomplishment."

Patriots QB Tom Brady, quoted on wbur.org following Sunday night’s Super Bowl defeat: "You know tonight didn't take away anything from what we did this season. We had a great year. It's just unfortunate that tonight turned out the way it did. But the Giants certainly deserve it, they're a great football team. As difficult as it is, you got to hand it to them, they made more plays than we did." Brady went on to say: "Well, I probably need some time to reflect on the game and some time to reflect on the season. While it is extremely disappointing, we'll just have to regroup and come back and try to make it stronger next year."

Giants QB and MVP of Super Bowl XLII Eli Manning, redirecting praise to his head coach Tom Coughlin, as quoted in the New York Post: "He's done an unbelievable job. He's had a lot of criticism himself. If I'm No. 1, he's No. 2 or vice versa, it's hard to say which is more. He had faith in me, I had faith in him, and this year he did a great job. He knew he had good veteran leaders on this team, and he let us lead the team, and he had faith that we could get it done."