Getty Los Angeles Rams safety Eric Weddle celebrates a playoff victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Former Baltimore Ravens safety Eric Weddle could not hold back his emotions after winning the NFC Championship Game with the Los Angeles Rams on January 30 to send the veteran to the first Super Bowl of his 13-year NFL career.
“This is what dreams are made of, quite honestly,” said Weddle to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports after the Rams defense closed out a hotly-contested matchup with the San Francisco 49ers to advance to the team’s second Super Bowl in the last four years.
“This is what dreams are made of.”
Rams safety Eric Weddle tells @JosinaAnderson how surreal it is to go from the couch to the Super Bowl.
“It’s hard to fathom where I was two-and-a-half weeks ago to having a major role on this team and now playing for the Super Bowl,” Weddle continued, “You can’t make this up.”
Weddle came out of retirement on January 12 to re-join the Rams for a playoff run after a two-year stint away from the NFL after injuries to both of Los Angeles’ starting safeties. Weddle’s return to the Rams was surprising, but not shocking considering that he started 16 games, played over 1,000 snaps on defense and finished as the team’s second-leading tackler in 2019 before he announced his retirement.
“I live my life with no regrets, I live each day to the fullest,” said Weddle after beating the 49ers, “When I got the call Tuesday night asking me if I had 15 plays in me, I gotta answer that call.”
Weddle Led Rams vs. 49ers
There were some concerns about Weddle’s fitness after so much time away from the field, but he only needed one game to return to a starting workload. After playing just 19 snaps in his NFL return against the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card Round, he saw the field for 61 snaps the following week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Weddle then started the NFC Championship Game at safety, playing all 51 of the Rams’ snaps on defense and leading the team with nine tackles. His 91.0 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus was the second-best of any NFL defender during Conference Championship Weekend.
Two years away from football has clearly not affected Weddle’s competitive spirit and love of the game that made him a fan favorite during his three Pro Bowl seasons in Baltimore.
“You better fight every snap like it’s the last play you’re going to play,” Weddle told his defensive teammates before a game-winning interception by Rams linebacker Travin Howard.
Another Ex-Raven Makes Super Bowl
Weddle isn’t the only former Ravens safety to make the Super Bowl, as his teammate Blake Countess spent most of the 2021 season on the practice squad in Baltimore before returning to the Rams.
Countess was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, but failed to make their regular season roster, instead joining the Rams for his first three NFL seasons. He then played for the New York Jets in 2020 before joining the Ravens amid a rash of secondary injuries in December. He didn’t play a single game in Baltimore, though, and now returns to the Rams as a special teams depth player.
He was elevated from the Rams’ practice squad for their first two playoff games, playing a combined 14 special teams snaps, but he was not active for the NFC Championship Game.