DannyNoonan
Practice Squad
Junior was on yesterday (Tuesday, 5/20). Here's the text:
ROME: It is almost surreal to talk to you in Miami. How bizarre was it to wear another team's uniform for the first time?
SEAU: "I had to just reflect back on the years previous to the time I put on the aqua and blue. It definitely was a bittersweet time, and obviously a weird time of putting that jersey on for the first time, getting in the huddle and seeing guys that I've seen at the Pro Bowl. It's definitely a learning experience, and a humbling experience."
ROME: To walk into somebody else's lockerroom as the new guy, after all those years of being in San Diego, that had to be strange . . .
SEAU: "It was strange. But going through the course of being recruited through the NFL, Miami was definitely the team that I wanted to be part of. I was just happy that Marvin Demoff, my agent, got a chance to get in there and get something done. The first day that I stepped in the lockerroom, they embraced my presence there. It was definitely something that I'm always going to remember."
ROME: I always thought if ever there was a guy who was going to start and end his career with one team it was going to be you. Did you feel the same way?
SEAU: "In talking to all the guys that have gone through this, the Ronnie Lotts, the Joe Montanas, and the other guys that have gone through what I had to go through this past offseason, I knew that there was an opportunity and there probably would be a change of guards. You're never ready for it, but at the same time, to adjust with a team that I'm now part of with the Miami Dolphins, it's a blessing that I'm here."
ROME: When it all went down, were you disappointed, were you angry, were you shocked?
SEAU: "When I first heard about it . . . you kind of get it during the year that there's going to be some changes. What you try not to do is not expect to be back and just work your tail off to get ready for the next season, wherever it may be. What I try to do is just focus on what's coming ahead and where I'm going to be, and just be the best player that I can be and help this team win the Super Bowl."
ROME: After going through something like that, do you have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and do you have something to prove to the folks back in San Diego?
SEAU: "It gives you a shot in the arm. As things go on during the 13-year stand there with the San Diego Chargers, which was a great feat in itself, it definitely gives you a shot in the arm where you sit back and you analyze what you've been doing during the offseason, and you just want to do more. That's what I'm doing now."
ROME: You've been pretty upfront about saying, 'I'm proud of my career, I've had a great run ... but' with the but being it's not OK if I don't get the ring. The best of the best are measured by the ring. You need to have it, don't you?
SEAU: "Yeah, I do. To tell you the truth, I do need to have a ring. With the Miami Dolphins and the team that we have here and the coaching staff that we have, it gives me and allows me an opportunity to go out there and do that. I'm looking forward to that. I think we're all judged on whether or not we get to that pinnacle time in our lives and in our career. Every team is seeking it, and I'm no different than anyone else."
ROME: When guys who have the yellow jacket or are about to get it in the Hall of Fame say to you, 'I'm alright if I don't get the ring, if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be,' typically are they telling the truth?
SEAU: "I'm pretty sure if you continue on with the conversation, they'll probably end up saying they'd definitely love to have that. To have that ring is definitely a fraternity of history. To be part of that is something that we all aim for. I'm not going to lie, if I don't receive it, yeah, there will be a little disappointment on my part of not being able to celebrate under the confetti of a Super Bowl. We're all in it for one thing, and that's to win a Super Bowl."
ROME: Last year, the Chargers again got off to a great start and, almost to a man, everybody said, 'We learned our lesson the year before. We are going to finish what we started. It can't possibly happen to us again.' Yet it did. Why did that particular team have trouble finishing what it started?
SEAU: "Well, I honestly believe that when we came down towards the end we just ran out of gas, we didn't perform and things just didn't click. There's no hiding between the lines. I mean either you play well and win, or you play bad and you lose. And that's exactly what happened to us."
ROME: You look at the Dolphins, when you came in there was a lot said and a lot written about this is what this team needs -- an established leader. Some of the leaders who were already on the team kind of took that as a slap in the face. When you got into that lockerroom do you get the sense that that's a good football team that just needed some leadership?
SEAU: "This is a great football team with great talent. Whether they need leadership, I wasn't here last year to assess that, and I'm not here to assess that even further than that because of the fact that here I am and I'm going to try to help this team win a Super Bowl and we're going to go on. I don't really care what happened last year. For anyone to say that they don't have a group of leaders on this team, they're crazy. They do. They have a lot of great leaders on this team and a lot of Pro Bowl players and role players. We're going to put this chemistry together where it's going to carry us through December."
ROME: One final thought about San Diego: When Marty Schottenheimer came in and some of the veterans were resisting what he was trying to sell, you were the one vet that said, 'Listen, what we've done so far hasn't worked, we better listen to what this guy has to say, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.' That was your take early on. When it was all said and done did you feel as good about him as you did in the beginning?
SEAU: "I do. I have a lot of respect for Marty Schottenheimer. He's a guy that's a blue-collar worker and he instills work ethic. One thing about Marty, he's going to tell you the truth, and that's the best thing about him. He's fair about things, and I think the work ethic part is something that I respect because I believe that we're losing it in the league."
ROME: Does the fact that maybe there's some disappointment, maybe even some resentment, about how things ended in San Diego change the way you feel about the city? And are you still going to be involved with your community efforts in San Diego and your foundation and things like that?
SEAU: "San Diego is my hometown. A home is different than just going and parking yourself in a community and helping it out. That is where I planted my seeds. I'm always going to be a San Diego guy. I have businesses there, and I also have my foundation there that raises money for the youth of San Diego, and it always will be there. So nothing has changed in that sense. I'm just going to be wearing a different jersey, and feeding another community here in Miami."
ROME: It is almost surreal to talk to you in Miami. How bizarre was it to wear another team's uniform for the first time?
SEAU: "I had to just reflect back on the years previous to the time I put on the aqua and blue. It definitely was a bittersweet time, and obviously a weird time of putting that jersey on for the first time, getting in the huddle and seeing guys that I've seen at the Pro Bowl. It's definitely a learning experience, and a humbling experience."
ROME: To walk into somebody else's lockerroom as the new guy, after all those years of being in San Diego, that had to be strange . . .
SEAU: "It was strange. But going through the course of being recruited through the NFL, Miami was definitely the team that I wanted to be part of. I was just happy that Marvin Demoff, my agent, got a chance to get in there and get something done. The first day that I stepped in the lockerroom, they embraced my presence there. It was definitely something that I'm always going to remember."
ROME: I always thought if ever there was a guy who was going to start and end his career with one team it was going to be you. Did you feel the same way?
SEAU: "In talking to all the guys that have gone through this, the Ronnie Lotts, the Joe Montanas, and the other guys that have gone through what I had to go through this past offseason, I knew that there was an opportunity and there probably would be a change of guards. You're never ready for it, but at the same time, to adjust with a team that I'm now part of with the Miami Dolphins, it's a blessing that I'm here."
ROME: When it all went down, were you disappointed, were you angry, were you shocked?
SEAU: "When I first heard about it . . . you kind of get it during the year that there's going to be some changes. What you try not to do is not expect to be back and just work your tail off to get ready for the next season, wherever it may be. What I try to do is just focus on what's coming ahead and where I'm going to be, and just be the best player that I can be and help this team win the Super Bowl."
ROME: After going through something like that, do you have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and do you have something to prove to the folks back in San Diego?
SEAU: "It gives you a shot in the arm. As things go on during the 13-year stand there with the San Diego Chargers, which was a great feat in itself, it definitely gives you a shot in the arm where you sit back and you analyze what you've been doing during the offseason, and you just want to do more. That's what I'm doing now."
ROME: You've been pretty upfront about saying, 'I'm proud of my career, I've had a great run ... but' with the but being it's not OK if I don't get the ring. The best of the best are measured by the ring. You need to have it, don't you?
SEAU: "Yeah, I do. To tell you the truth, I do need to have a ring. With the Miami Dolphins and the team that we have here and the coaching staff that we have, it gives me and allows me an opportunity to go out there and do that. I'm looking forward to that. I think we're all judged on whether or not we get to that pinnacle time in our lives and in our career. Every team is seeking it, and I'm no different than anyone else."
ROME: When guys who have the yellow jacket or are about to get it in the Hall of Fame say to you, 'I'm alright if I don't get the ring, if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be,' typically are they telling the truth?
SEAU: "I'm pretty sure if you continue on with the conversation, they'll probably end up saying they'd definitely love to have that. To have that ring is definitely a fraternity of history. To be part of that is something that we all aim for. I'm not going to lie, if I don't receive it, yeah, there will be a little disappointment on my part of not being able to celebrate under the confetti of a Super Bowl. We're all in it for one thing, and that's to win a Super Bowl."
ROME: Last year, the Chargers again got off to a great start and, almost to a man, everybody said, 'We learned our lesson the year before. We are going to finish what we started. It can't possibly happen to us again.' Yet it did. Why did that particular team have trouble finishing what it started?
SEAU: "Well, I honestly believe that when we came down towards the end we just ran out of gas, we didn't perform and things just didn't click. There's no hiding between the lines. I mean either you play well and win, or you play bad and you lose. And that's exactly what happened to us."
ROME: You look at the Dolphins, when you came in there was a lot said and a lot written about this is what this team needs -- an established leader. Some of the leaders who were already on the team kind of took that as a slap in the face. When you got into that lockerroom do you get the sense that that's a good football team that just needed some leadership?
SEAU: "This is a great football team with great talent. Whether they need leadership, I wasn't here last year to assess that, and I'm not here to assess that even further than that because of the fact that here I am and I'm going to try to help this team win a Super Bowl and we're going to go on. I don't really care what happened last year. For anyone to say that they don't have a group of leaders on this team, they're crazy. They do. They have a lot of great leaders on this team and a lot of Pro Bowl players and role players. We're going to put this chemistry together where it's going to carry us through December."
ROME: One final thought about San Diego: When Marty Schottenheimer came in and some of the veterans were resisting what he was trying to sell, you were the one vet that said, 'Listen, what we've done so far hasn't worked, we better listen to what this guy has to say, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.' That was your take early on. When it was all said and done did you feel as good about him as you did in the beginning?
SEAU: "I do. I have a lot of respect for Marty Schottenheimer. He's a guy that's a blue-collar worker and he instills work ethic. One thing about Marty, he's going to tell you the truth, and that's the best thing about him. He's fair about things, and I think the work ethic part is something that I respect because I believe that we're losing it in the league."
ROME: Does the fact that maybe there's some disappointment, maybe even some resentment, about how things ended in San Diego change the way you feel about the city? And are you still going to be involved with your community efforts in San Diego and your foundation and things like that?
SEAU: "San Diego is my hometown. A home is different than just going and parking yourself in a community and helping it out. That is where I planted my seeds. I'm always going to be a San Diego guy. I have businesses there, and I also have my foundation there that raises money for the youth of San Diego, and it always will be there. So nothing has changed in that sense. I'm just going to be wearing a different jersey, and feeding another community here in Miami."
