38°F

To acquire wisdom, one must observe

Chatting it up with Rodney Harrison

Rodney Harrison interview on February 17th

Hoot: How often do you come out for community related events?

Harrison: A couple times a month, get out and get a chance to interact with the fans and get a chance to meet them, [sic] truly nice just talking to them and really seeing the appreciation from them, and I like to show my appreciation and gratitude for the fact that they come out and support us so much.

Hoot: How's your rehab going?

Harrison: Rehab's going well, right on schedule where I need to be, working hard four or five times a week here in Foxborough, its tough, its tedious, sometimes it gets boring. You get back what you put into it, so you just have to stay focused and that's what Im trying to do.

Hoot: What's it like having three different defensive coordinators in as many years?
Harrison: Well I think if you're a normal person you look at it and maybe it's pretty tough initially because you have to adjust or adapt to so many different guys. The funny part about us, all those guys are different, yet they're similar. And I think we have a core group of guys here so even though you change coordinators you still keep a core group of guys and I think the transition is a lot easier to relate to different [sic] the scheme is the same but just to relate to different terminology and stuff like that, but everything is pretty much the same.

Hoot: Do you feel that with all of the roster changes, the one positive thing was that the younger players got to have more experience? Could that be advantageous for the future?

Harrison: Well the only way you get experience is if you go out there and play. The only way you get better is if you go out there and practice and play. So I think the young guys have an opportunity to go out there and play, it's gonna serve us well in the future, cause now they know what it takes to be a player in the National Football League. Now, they have to go back to the drawing board, and they have to work extremely hard cause they have to get better just as I have to get better. But I think having that experience, playing in a playoff game, playing in, you know, really important games, which every game is important, they really get a chance to go out there and just ,you know, get that experience.

Hoot: How would you compare the first Super Bowl win versus last season's Super Bowl victory.

Harrison: Well, the first Super Bowl is always your sweetest Super Bowl, especially your first Super Bowl win. The first Super Bowl is always the sweetest win, because its your first win. I mean you always hear about the guys that are world champions, the Walter Paytons and the Jerry Rices, Steve Youngs, but for you to finally be able to achieve your dream as a kid is the most awesome feeling, one of the most awesome feelings that I've ever felt. I put it up there close, you know, under my son and me getting married, but I think the second one was just as sweet because it takes that much more work to repeat and have the ability to go out there and repeat. You get 53 guys, you get coaches, 10, 12, 15 coaches, everyone together, including the trainers, and the equipment staff, achieving one goal, and I think that's one of the sweetest things [sic] is the ultimate team sport and it's just the ultimate feeling, winning a Super Bowl.

Hoot: Where do you see the team headed this offseason?

Harrison: I'll tell you this. It's a scary thing, seeing a ticked off New England Patriots team. A ticked off New England Patriots team with the opportunity to go in the offseason to get better, to fill some needs that we need, to add some depth, to add some quality people to this organization. So I think it's scary to see a hungry New England Patriots team that came off a disappointing loss. And I think in 2006, we're going to be bigger and better.

Get Our Stories Sent To Your Inbox

Skip to content