Brandon Short Interview
...posted by Anthony De Rosa...
I had the chance to do a quick interview with Brandon Short this afternoon, discussing his experience as a member of the XXXV Super Bowl Giants.
Anthony De Rosa, Giants Football Blog : Coming off your big win against the Vikings, was there ever a feeling that you kind of took a breath, lost focus, and let down going into the Super Bowl?
Brandon Short : I’ve only been to the Super Bowl one time, I haven’t been there multiple times so I can’t say whereas theres a let down versus not having a let down from year to year but for us I don’t really feel like there was a let down, we just went out and got beat by a better team that day. The Baltimore Ravens played better.
Anthony : Are there any lessons that you can pass on to this year’s team that you learned from your experience in the Super Bowl?
Brandon : Well, the media attention and all the hoopla surrounding the Super Bowl is like nothing else in the world. Its the most publicized and most hyped event on Earth. Dealing with fans and friends asking you for tickets and just everything that goes into all the exterior factors involved in the game can take your attention away from what you have to do on that field. Just stay focused on what you have to do. You only have one opportunity to be world champions, just go for it.
Anthony : You’ve obviously watched this team pretty closely this year. Are there any attributes that you think have led to their success, especially how they turned their season around?
Brandon : If I had one word to explain the New York Giants, it would be resilient. They dealt with adversity early on in the season, everybody was talking about fire Coughlin and everybody, even late in the season they were saying get rid of Eli. Now Eli is a Super Bowl quarterback. The Giants are one of the top defenses in the NFL, they’re sitting in the Super Bowl. They made it through the adversity by sticking together and for that reason I can’t count them out, even though I’m picking the Patriots to win, theres no way I expected them to make it this far, so why change now?
Anthony : Sometimes I see the coaches try to motivate the players by using what reporters have said or whats been in the press. I would think you’re motivated as it is, as a professional you’re already motivated. Does that sort of thing even matter?
Brandon : The reality is, it shouldn’t matter. Just you being in the Super Bowl, or you playing professional football should be motivation enough but there is times during the long season where there may be a lull and its the leadership’s job to set the tone for the football team and they’re going to use anything at their disposal to motivate their football team so Bill Belichick is probrobly telling the New England Patriots that they’re the underdogs or people are talking about Brady. He’s going to find something to make his team not be comfortable. You gotta be hungry all the time, and thats the leadership’s job.
