Joe Horn
Q: Joe, you have gone through difficult circumstances, how does this compare to the atmosphere you’ve experienced?
A: “Actually, it was a little more chaos after Hurricane Katrina with the media. I think because they followed you everywhere and it was at a different place. It was a little more chaos with the Katrina situation.”
Q: How has the team reacted to the situation?
A: “We are all professionals. After Coach talked to us, it was agreed that all the guys feel the same, and that’s about playing football. We get paid to do our job and I haven’t talked to everybody but we will pull together. We have to pull together to win football games. It’s just the situation for us that no one wanted, but it’s happened. And we have to deal with it on the football field.”
Keith Brooking
Q: How do you feel about the distractions these past few months?
A: “No matter how many years a certain guy has played, they are on this football team right now. We have all gotten to this point for a reason and we have all dealt with problems in our life, adverse situations, and being able to get to this position and accomplish what we have so far in life. That’s part of being professional and showing up everyday. Once you walk through those gates focus on what you got to get done as a football team. That is one of the reasons why Joe and I, Lawyer, Alge, DeAngelo, and Warrick wanted to come in today and work towards our goal. We walked through those gates this morning and had our first meeting to win football games. And that’s the way we are looking at it right now. We got a tremendous amount of work to do; there are so many variables, we have no clue what went on, what happen, what’s going to happen, but one thing that is very clear for us right now is our mission as a football team is unchanged. That includes beating Minnesota the first week of the season and getting into the playoffs. That’s the one thing that is very clear for us.”
Q: How do you put closure to this?
A: “The one thing that we are asking is for everyone to let us play football, and to try our best to win football games. I think those are some serious allegations. It is very disappointing for us. I’m not going to say we aren’t going to think about it but at the same time our main objective is to win ball games. We’ve all dealt with problems in life, and we are all human. We have family problems and we have a lot of things going on in our lives, but when we walk through those gates, and drive through those gates, it’s time to focus on football. I believe strongly with all my heart that we can do it.”
Joe Horn
Q: Do you have any anger toward Vick?
A: “No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life and we all understand that. My heart and my prayers go out to Michael. And I know Mike understands how we feel about him. So like Keith was saying, it is not fair to Mr. Blank for us to come through those gates and not do our jobs. We understand that because we are professionals. And as veterans on this team we will make sure that other veterans and young guys will be on the same page. We love Mike. It’s unfortunate that he is going through this situation but he has to go through it. As a football team and for this organization we get paid to do our job. And we have to get that job done regardless of the media.”
Keith Brooking
Q: Have you read the indictment? Do you have any thoughts on that?
A: “No, our legal system in place. What good is it for me to have thoughts or judge Mike or have an opinion on it? Our legal system in the United States is set in place and due process will take its course. I don’t think it does us any good to sit here and comment on that or have an opinion on it because that’s not our objective. That’s not what we are here for. That’s not what we are sitting up here today for. We are sitting up here today to put closure on this for our football team. Because our mission is still very clear as a team and that is to win football games. We are going to rally behind Joey and we will give him support. We are going to let him know we are there for him. We are going to come here everyday as professionals and do what we are suppose to do for Mr. Blank and this organization. That is to give 110%, and exhaust ourselves everyday to win as many games as we can to position ourselves to win a championship. Our goal hasn’t changed for us at all.”
Joe Horn
Q: How realistic is the offense success for this team?
A: “I believe in Coach Petrino’s system. And the other players do to. And I’m sure Warrick will be back in three or four weeks. It’s like a big bowl of soup. Everybody has to throw their ingredient into it. I feel that we can win. I believe in Coach Petrino’s system and we have to buy into it. Once, all the players buy into it, which we will, its hard to break a family apart.”
Q: How do you compensate for the lost of Vick?
A: “You have to find a way. Regardless, Mike is an exceptional athlete. But Mike’s not here right now. We are dealing with the players that are here. We are going to rally behind Joey Harrington and the other quarterbacks and make plays. Any team that can win a Super Bowl is a team that specifically comes together and without having the spectacular athlete. We have to rally together as a family to win football games.”
