Blount, Long Win Back-to-Back Super Bowls

MINNEAPOLIS - Philadelphia Eagles Running Back LeGarrette Blount and Defensive End Chris Long are the only two players in the NFL that can say they were on Super Bowl winning teams each of the last two seasons. They won the Super Bowl last year with New England and enjoyed the same feeling after winning it with Philadelphia.

"It’s an amazing feeling," Blount said. "You can’t say enough about this team. It’s a resilient team. I’ve accomplished back to back Super Bowls and all that, but this win is a credit to this team. It shows that we have a resilient group. We love each other, it’s like a family. You can’t say enough about these guys.”

“I’m blessed," Long smiled. "LeGarrette (Blount) and I just make good decisions. That’s all it is. It took a big leap of faith to leave somewhere like that where you know you’re going to be in games like that, to live with the fact that maybe we would have to watch them do that. We just became a part of a great team and the better team won today.”

Both players were extremely important additions to a team that needed their experience and both played very well in the playoffs.

Blount carried the ball 14 times for 90 yards and a touchdown against his former team. It was an impressive performance for a guy who clearly appeared to play the game with a chip on his shoulder.

“This was a game that you have to lay it all on the line," Blount explained. "It’s all or nothing. This isn’t like the NBA Finals or the World Series or anything like that. You only get one chance to win this game. You don’t get to replay it. You just go out there and you just give everything that you have.”

Long came up with a huge play to help the Eagles get to the Super Bowl when he recovered a Case Keenum fumble in the NFC Championship Game. He also hit Keenum as he threw, which turned into a pick-six by Patrick Robinson.

Long provided leadership in the locker room, played with fire and provided great depth on the Defensive Line. Throughout all of his experiences in the NFL, few compare to playing for Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson.

“He’s a leader," Long stated. "He comes in every day. We’re human. When something goes wrong, sometimes you have doubt. You come to that team meeting room the next day and I remember after that L.A. game we had such an awesome win, it’s the biggest win of the year, we lost Carson (Wentz). We came into the team meeting room and Doug (Pederson) just erased any doubt that anything was going to change. That’s a leader.”

It was one of the most entertaining Super Bowls from start to finish and it went down to the final play. Blount and Long saw firsthand many times what Tom Brady could do at the end of the game. They were relieved when Brady's Hail Mary fell harmlessly to the ground.

“Oh my God," Long laughed. "I forgot that last pass. I felt like that was eight seconds where the ball was like, I thought they caught it for a split second and then I just saw everybody running on the field. I was running on the field but I got a chance to say thanks to a couple of my old coaches I ran into. Last year was very special, but this group is amazing. This group is as special of a group that ever played.”

“We knew we had to play 60 minutes," Blount said. "Eight points isn’t enough, so we had to play 60 minutes. Everybody in this building and stadium knows how good Tom (Brady) is if he has the ball last and has the chance to tie it at the end of the game. Our defense came to play today, they made the plays that mattered the most. It’s an amazing group.”

Blount and Long become the first players since Deion Sanders to win consecutive Super Bowl titles while playing for two different teams. Sanders did it as a member of the San Francisco 49'ers and Dallas Cowboys.

They will get to enjoy a victory parade for the second straight year. But this time they will experience it with a fan base that has never enjoyed a Super Bowl title... until now.