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Super Bowl Q&A with Eugene Robinson
Posted: Wednesday January 27, 1999 07:08 PM
Days before Atlanta safety Eugene Robinson plays in his third Super Bowl, he sat down with TNT's Ernie Johnson to discuss the Falcons' chances in the big game.
Ernie Johnson: You spent the first 11 seasons of your NFL career dreaming of getting the chance to play in one Super Bowl. Now you are playing in your third straight. How does that feel? Eugene Robinson: I'm just blessed. I would have never imagined that at the end of my career, I would have gone to one Super Bowl, let alone three. Everybody thinks that I have the Midas touch for some reason. Randy Fuller said to me whatever team you go to next, I'm going to that team. I don't have anything to do with it at all. EJ: Have any of your old Packer teammates called you lately? What were their messages? ER: My big dog Reggie (White). He said, "I'm jealous Geno. God bless you, man. You did a great job. You did a wonderful job all season." EJ: The Atlanta Falcons are in the Super Bowl? Can you believe it? ER: That doesn't even sound right coming off your lips. EJ: I'm still having trouble putting the two together. A lot of people are. What were your highest expectations for this team when you signed on? ER: I knew this team was hungry, but I didn't realize how hungry this team was. I didn't realize how much this team wanted to make a statement -- that they were no longer going to be looked as second-class citizens. They are going to exact respect on the football field. It is not given to you, you have to go ahead and take it. You have to beat down the big boys, which are the San Francisco 49ers, who have been the big boys in our division forever beating up the lowly Falcons. We made a statement and that is over. We are going to fight you. EJ: How do you make sure these guys are more than just happy to be there at the Super Bowl? ER: Shane Dronett, somebody had asked him, "Aren't you guys happy just to be there?" That just rubbed me the wrong way. The hair in the back of my neck raised. I raised my eyebrows. I was so upset just from the statement. I'm not satisfied just to get to the Super Bowl. I'm satisfied to win the Super Bowl. Our goal is to win the Super Bowl, not just say we showed up. No one gets a consolation prize, that only happens on The Price is Right. I don't want the consolation prize. I want the real deal. I want to be holding that Lombardi trophy. EJ: Given his Super Bowl record as a head coach and playing against Denver, Dan Reeves has talked at length about what happened between Mike Shanahan and John Elway. Do you feel any of that and say, "I would like to win the game to get that behind him?" ER: As a football player, the way that you really move forward, you have to get the monkey off your back. You make a statement and put an exclamation point on it. The way that you're going to do this is by winning the game against the Denver Broncos. I really think that will legitimize him in the eyes of all the critics. You couldn't take the Denver Broncos to it, but now you comeback and beat the Broncos. I would love for him to go ahead and raise that trophy above his head. You can put all that stuff behind you and put an exclamation point on it and it's not even talked about anymore.
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