Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was at the podium on Tuesday.
Here’s what Jarrett had to say at the Super Bowl:
(on what it is about Atlanta Head Coach Dan Quinn's personality that gets guys to play at a high level) "Like you said, it's just his style, his swagger, his confidence, his knowledge, just the way he carries himself, the way at the same time he demands your best and nothing but your best and he doesn't tolerate anything but your best effort. As long as you're trying to do your best and have fun, you're going to be alright with him. It's fun playing for a guy like that. At the same time, it challenges you to try to be a better you. I just feel like that's what players appreciate about him. We have fun doing it, but at the same time, he challenges me to be my best so I'm going to be a better player."
(on if he has ever seen a coach do that before) "Actually I have, in Clemson. Coach (Brent) Venables was in there with us sometimes. He's definitely in to it man and it's awesome to be part of a program like that."
(on his draft experience and if he was at his house when it caught on fire) "Yeah, that was a crazy time. My draft experience wasn't what you think about growing up as a kid. It happened the second day of the draft. It was around the second round – I thought I was projected to go around the second or third round – so I was watching the draft thinking, 'Today is my day.' We were watching the draft and smell something, so my uncle went upstairs in the game room and a little fire had started. It wasn't my whole house, you could say half, that caught on fire. We had to get everyone out of the house. We had a lot of friends and family over. All in all, my house caught on fire and I watched my phone throughout the whole night wondering when I'm going to get drafted."
(on what kind of reaction he is getting from his friends at home in Conyers, Georgia) "There's a lot of support and well wishes. I guess it's surreal for them seeing someone they grew up with on a stage like this. It's awesome and I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and bring it home."
(on what kind of relationship he has maintained with his father, former Atlanta Falcon Jessie Tuggle, over the years) "We have a wonderful relationship. We talk every week. I just didn't grow up in the same household as him, but we have a great relationship. He spoke to me before we came out here and he told me to have fun and do my thing. He's just been another supporter on my end. It's pretty cool for me to be on the Falcons team that made it back to the Super Bowl. It's awesome. We're just having a good time, my family is in good spirits right now, all positive vibes and we're just enjoying this."
(on how you can force New England QB Tom Brady to make a mistake) "You just have to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. They haven't had a lot of turnovers. They do a good job of taking care of the ball, as do we, and they do a job of going after it. It's like two philosophies meeting each other. It's all about the ball and they're a team that clearly understands that and we understand that as well."
(on how they are devising a game plan with so many threats on offense) "They have a lot of guys that are able to do dangerous things with the ball. They have a lot of offensive power, at the same time, we're just going to have to stick to our plan and do what we do. The game is going to play itself out. That's the exciting part of it. That's why we play the game, so it's definitely awesome to be able to play a game of this magnitude."
(on if he can tell early in games that the Falcons defense causes so much problems for opposing offensive lines with the speed on the defensive line) "I can say to the point that we do a lot of things with our rushes that we talk about throughout the week as far as a rush plan and what we think will work in certain times in the game. We practice different stuff, but even if it's not in the rush plan during the week, we might go more with the flow of the game. You never know, but we work extremely hard at just developing our rush and even when we don't get there, we just try to affect the quarterback."
(on how much the young guys rely on the veterans like Dwight Freeney) "A lot. He's done a great job of coming in and trying to implement his rush theory and what he's had success with as a whole unit. Just with having success over the years and the other rushers that he had success rushing with, and a guy like Babs (Jonathan Babineaux) just going on that same path as well. Our veterans mean a lot to us. They all help us grow as players and rusher, so it's definitely awesome."
(on if the younger guys have nicknames like "grandpa" for the veterans) "No, we're brothers. We're brothers and it's awesome that we get to go through it together, because it's these guys that I watched as a kid growing up balling. I used to love watching Dwight Freeney – shorter guy, balling, having a pro career – so it's good to be able to play on the same field with a guy like that."
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