Super Bowl media day is a lot more about silliness than it is football—there was a guy wearing a barrel credentialed as “media”—so while there were some real football answers given, this is a more lighthearted look at some of the funny and interesting things said Tuesday.
You’ll notice a lot of Michael Bennett on this list because, well, Michael Bennett’s a funny dude.
We’ll start things off with this from TE Luke Wilson, who summed the media day experience up as well as possible: “It is a bit of a gong show in here, but I am having fun.”
“I’m just here so I won’t get fined.”—RB Marshawn Lynch, 29 different times, his answer to every question during the five or so minutes he stuck around.
“I’m excited about it. Anytime you get to go up against guys that have done well in this league, who have dominated in this league, you have got to rise to the challenge. … Browner being one of the most physical cornerbacks, Revis being one of the most cerebral cornerbacks, I’m excited about the opportunity we have presented to us. I’m going to bring my sunblock, my shades, and a hat and I’m going to go to Revis Island and see what I can do. And I’ll let you know after the game.”—WR Doug Baldwin on facing New England cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Darrelle Revis.
“I don’t feel any pressure. We let you all feel the pressure for us.”—LB Bobby Wagner on if the Seahawks feel pressure as the NFL’s new dynasty.
“It’s very cool. It’s not surprising though. We travel well. If we were playing in Paris, I think there would be a lot of 12’s in Paris. We travel well.”—Wagner on the presence of a lot of Seahawks fans in Arizona.
“People keep asking me if I can feel the difference between pressure of the ball. I’m the center, I touch it every single play. I can’t, if I’m being honest with you. I don’t think it really even matters that much.”—C Max Unger asked about air pressure in footballs.
“I think a lot of times football players feel so confined by who other people want us to be. I think it’s good that Pete lets people be themselves. I think when you do that, you get a more successful – you get wins. You think about Google, you think about how they let their people be who they are. You think about any successful business in America right now and it’s all about letting people be themselves and letting them work. Sometimes when you have people doing too much, they just forget who they are and they aren’t happy. And when you’re happy, you do a lot of things better.”—DE Michael Bennett on the freedom given to players by Pete Carroll.
“I’m never stressed, man. I wake up every day and look in the mirror and say, ‘Damn, I look good,’ so I can’t be stressed.”—Bennett on the stress of playing in the Super Bowl.
“There’s a lot of estrogen going on, a lot of sensitivity. I have to break down my football barrier, being so macho all the time. Gotta watch those kid movies, gotta watch those girly things.”—Bennett on having three daughters.
“People hate us because, you know, when you talk a lot of smack, people usually hate you. But when you talk a lot of smack and you back it up, they hate you even more. I think that’s what it is. People hate (Richard) Sherman because he says he’s the best corner, and he plays like the best corner. So, it’s just like one of those things where people just hate us because of who we are, but we embrace it. I like it. I like when people hate us, because our stocks go up, our jerseys are higher selling. It’s pretty cool.”—Bennett on the perception that the Seahawks are over-confident.
“I think we’ll be the Paul Bunyans of the NFL. We’ll be the best.”—Bennett on the legacy of Seattle’s defense.
“I like the old school paper.”—S Earl Thomas ruining somebody’s question about the use of Microsoft Surface tablets in the NFL this year.
“Did you say we were almost done? As far as losing? That didn’t happen. I’m not a fortune teller. We won, we’re here, we’re talking.”—Thomas, incredulous when a question was asked about the Seahawks being “almost done” in the NFC championship game.
“Presence. When he’s out there, like a Rolls Royce, you are always going to notice them. He has that type of presence. We both actually have Rolls Royces, so I thought I’d put that in there.”—Thomas on what Kam Chancellor brings to the defense… and also on what apparently is in both of their driveways.
“It’s growing. We accept bandwagon fans and everything.”—Thomas on the team’s growing fanbase.
“It’s nuts because to be able to be at the very bottom, I think I am one of the only players probably ever to do it, to go 0-16 and being in the Super Bowl, winning the Super Bowl and being back the next year. It’s been a heck of a ride. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of faith, and eventually I got here and it’s a blessing.”—DE Cliff Avril, who played on an 0-16 team in Detroit, and now is preparing for his second straight Super Bowl.
“You know, I was really looking forward to these types of questions. This is what I’m talking about.”—WR Jermaine Kearse, who up until a question about Katy Perry’s halftime performance, was apparently caught off guard by actual football question.
“Nobody.”—LB K.J. Wright when asked who on the Patriots’ roster scares the Seahawks.
“It’s not OK in this league for anybody to intentionally hurt anybody. I think he was just caught up in the moment. He didn’t mean any malice by it. It’s one of those things, we know him as a person and sometimes he exaggerates a little bit. He didn’t mean anything by that and we didn’t take it offensively. We know him as a person and we know who he is, but to answer your question, that’s never a good thing. Nobody intentionally hurts anybody in this league, that I know of. I think a lot of guys stand for the integrity of the football league and have a lot of respect for one another, and Brandon does as well.”—CB Richard Sherman on the comments made by Brandon Browner about targeting Sherman and Thomas’ injuries.
“I don’t think (players) should be obligated any more than the commissioner is obligated to speak to the media. I think that if players are going to be obligated to speak to the media then every one of the NFL personnel should be obligated to speak to the media weekly, and that’s not the case. It’s unfortunate, but I think that every team should be forced to present certain players, obviously a few of them. Obviously if someone is uncomfortable in front of the media and uncomfortable answering questions and things like that, then you have to find a way to accommodate the NFL. This is a game – you find a way to accommodate everyone else who’s uncomfortable.”—Sherman on the league’s media policy, a big topic of discussion because of Marshawn Lynch.
“Eat your vegetables man.”—DT Kevin Williams on how he has made it 12 years in the NFL.
“Oh man. It is pretty dumb. I’m not going to say it is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of, you want guys on the same level, but I have said that it won’t help anybody cover, it won’t help anybody defeat blocks. It is not going to help you tackle. It is not a big issue.”—Williams on the “Deflategate” scandal in New England.
“I mean I guess it was destiny. It was destiny for us to have the same seat.”—S Kam Chancellor when it was brought to his attention that he was in the same seat as New England TE Rob Gronkowski, a player Chancellor figures to be covering at times Sunday.
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