39the block and gave chase. He ran the
quarterback down near the sideline,
and, as he got him, Garoppolo f lipped
the ball recklessly.
“I literally saw AD coming and I said,
‘Oh, my gosh, he’s gonna sack him,’ ” said
Weddle. “And I saw him f lip that ball in
there. I said, ‘Oh, my gosh. He just did it.’
Jimmy does those weird plays sometimes
in a game, and it went right to us.”
Travin Howard was waiting, and that
was that. The interception meant that
L.A. was going to the Super Bowl—a
turn of events that was remarkable for
many Rams players, but for Weddle
most of all.
Remember, when Morris called,
Weddle was retired, and not “we’ll
see” retired but fully gone-from-football
retired, and he was initially asked by
Morris and McVay to play a few snaps
a game. He played 100% of the snaps
against the 49ers. In helping to limit
the San Francisco offense to 282 yards
and 17 points, Weddle had set himself
up for the first Super Bowl appearance
of his 14-year career.
“I love challenges,” he said. “I love the thought that
no one gives me a chance and the thought of doing
something that’s never been done before. I relish that
opportunity. And I’ll bet on myself any day of the week.
Did I think it was crazy? Yeah, but I’m crazy at heart.
Shoot, I mean, I don’t know. Why not take that chance
when Raheem calls me and then I call a couple players
and circle back a few hours later to Sean to make sure
this is real life?
“I mean, it started out as, Can they give you 10, 15 snaps
on Monday night? I gave them 19. We go to Tampa; I
gave them 61. And now the rest is history. So I’m just
taking the second chance, man, this second chance of
playing this great game that I love so much that people
in my position never get. I don’t live with regrets.”
Thanks to how Stafford, Donald and the Rams
have been playing, Weddle isn’t being given much to
regret, anyway.
LOS ANGELES RAMSFEELING SUPER
Beckham’s nine catches
for 113 yards helped give
the Rams’ QB and their top
defender a moment to savor.NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME