Secrets of the Super Bowl Quarterbacks

SUPER BOWL XXXVII

After the game, we were there doing so many interviews I walked out and the buses were leaving. I saw the back of the red lights on the bus take off. I looked around. There was just my wife, Nikki, who was 7½ months pregnant, and my marketing guy Brian Lammi. We said, "What are we going to do?" So we just hitchhiked a ride back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped at a convenience store, had a few drinks in the backseat of the car then kept going back to the hotel. It was crazy. They [the driver] were happy to do it. We headed to the 7-Eleven and were good to go. There's one other thing. I kind of amuse myself sometimes. I wore three jerseys for every game. I had a warm-up jersey, a halftime jersey and a second-half jersey. I always changed because I sweat a lot. I changed shoulder pads, cleats, socks, everything. I did that every game. After the game, I gave one jersey to [coach Jon] Gruden and I kept two jerseys for me. That night after we had the team party, I slept in my jersey, the first-half jersey. I did. I wanted to wake up smelling like a champion. Oh boy. That's sick. So that's the jersey I ended up wearing to Disney. I left the grass stains in it and everything. I still have them, never washed them, nothing. Just let them be authentic. Got one in a frame, got one kind of hidden away. I don't tell too many people that. But it's been 10 years, so I guess I can tell it.
-- As told to Ashley Fox of ESPN.com

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