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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: STANFORD v WISCONSINDecember 27, 2012Curt PhillipsPASADENA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Different mindset third time here? CURT PHILLIPS: I would say it's definitely more businesslike. Obviously we've been here. This is our third time. I think it's important to still take in the environment because it's really special, but at the same time there's definitely more of a sense of urgency. I think guys are much more locked in, they're not more as wide eyed as they would have been in the past. Q. (No microphone.). CURT PHILLIPS: It's still special. The coaches encourage that you take the opportunities you're given. But at the same time we've done it, we've been here. The game is what is important. We haven't come away with a win in the Rose Bowl. So that's something that everybody is hungry for and I think we'll make the most of. Q. How would you describe Coach Alvarez? CURT PHILLIPS: There's definitely a presence about him. Guys take notice anytime he's there. Anytime he speaks, he's a great speaker, but guys take to heart what he's saying. He's somebody that guys can rally around. I think the presence he brings, the confidence, knowing he's had success on this stage. Q. Monte said he's good before and after practice. CURT PHILLIPS: I would agree. Anytime he says anything, he's not a very long‑winded guy, but what he does say people take to heart. Obviously there's a lot of merit behind anything he says just with the success he's had. I think guys rally around him and go to war for him. Q. You can help make history. Are you aware of that? CURT PHILLIPS: It's not something he talks about, but at the same time we're definitely aware of his record in the Rose Bowl. That's something we take pride in, something we help carry on. It's an awesome opportunity for him. Obviously to be able to step in. I don't know how you describe the situation for him, but for us to have the opportunity to play for him and try to carry on that tradition is really big. Q. What do you think changed about the game plan going into the championship game? CURT PHILLIPS: We had nothing to lose at that point. We didn't hold anything back. We kind of found our identity towards the end of the year. It wasn't necessarily the trick plays that did it for us, but little wrinkles to keep them on their heels. He definitely seemed to be clicking on all cylinders at the end of the year. I had a lot of fun playing in his offense. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: I think so. Towards the beginning of the year, everybody was figuring each other out. New players, new coaching staff, new scheme. Took us a while to get clicking and start working together. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: I was excited. Obviously we always have full confidence in their game plan, the positions they put us in. I think the week of practice was what really told it for us. Everybody was prepared. Everybody was really crisp the entire week. We came in ready to play. Q. Any more bag of tricks for the Rose Bowl? CURT PHILLIPS: I think so. This isn't going to be that many tricks. Two smash‑mouth teams. Obviously Stanford is a successful team that I have a lot of respect for. Looking forward for getting the chance to play them. Q. How would you describe your career to people, your journey? CURT PHILLIPS: It's been alone, I guess that's the best description (laughter). Obviously it was frustrating not having the opportunity to contribute. I came in with a lot of high hopes. The one thing, I think anytime anything is taken away from you, it shows you how much it does mean to you. It shows you what you're willing to do to get the opportunity to get back out there. Anytime I get the chance to strap 'em on now, I take it. I maybe have a different respect for the game, for living in the moment. Q. You dreamed about this happening. To actually have it happen... CURT PHILLIPS: It's awesome. As a kid you grow up watching the Rose Bowl and dream of playing in it one day. To have the opportunity to do that now is something I'm extremely excited about it. I've been fortunate enough to have been here twice and this is our third time. To sit behind two successful quarterbacks now playing in the NFL is very big for me. I may not be able to mirror what they do skill set‑wise is great, but what I learned from them is definitely an advantage for me. Q. How would you describe what your role is on this team? CURT PHILLIPS: I think it's more of a game manager. I think Wisconsin quarterbacks are tabbed as game managers. I think that's true for me. The team we have, the type of skill sets we have around the quarterback, you don't need the quarterback to do anything spectacular. The line, as successful as they are, the caliber of runningbacks and receivers, Montee, James, Melvin, all those guys, just put us in a position to be successful. Make sure I don't make any mistakes and try to manage the game out there. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: I'm sure they will. They're a very good defense. Have a lot of respect for how they play. Definitely kind of a different scheme than what we're used to seeing in the Big Ten with the odd front. I think having an extra month of preparation is going to help us. I think the guys up front take it personally. They're a great defense. Do a great job stopping the run. If you ask Travis, that's exactly what they want. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: I was hoping so. That was one we clinched the chance to go to the Big Ten championship. That was big. Our goal from the beginning of the season was to get to Indy and get the chance to come back here. I never knew if I was going to get the chance to play. Once I did, I tried to just have fun with it. I wanted to be as prepared as possible where if I had a chance, I didn't want to give it back. Q. How do you stay ready for so long? CURT PHILLIPS: It's tough. It's definitely frustrating. Anytime anything happened, I tried to put my head down and work and not worry about what was going on around me. I think that's the biggest thing, is you can't control everything else, you can only control how prepared you are. I didn't want to have any regrets at the end of the day. If I didn't have a chance to play, I still would have worked as hard as I could. I didn't want to get in there and not be prepared. Q. Did you accept the fact this might not happen? CURT PHILLIPS: It's tough. That was the biggest thing for me, I didn't want to give up. I had a lot of people who encouraged me to keep driving. Even when we went through fall camp, I was able to be out there, but I wasn't at a level I could participate fully. I just wanted to keep driving and hope I did get an opportunity. I didn't know that it would come, but I'm thankful that it did. I'll try to make the most of it. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: It was bitter, but at the same time anytime you have a direct hand at something, it means that much more to you. I was thankful to have the opportunity to be here, but it's frustrating not having the chance to contribute. For me having the chance to see the stage, see the day‑to‑day operations makes it easier being a part of it. But it is something, especially the guys like Travis that have been a part of it for three years, they take it very personally. Q. What was the absolute low point for you? CURT PHILLIPS: The most frustrating part for me, I came back from my second surgery, my second ACL, I came back, I thought the rehab was going very well. I was working hard, felt like I had a jump on the process because I had been through it twice already. We found out I had an infection and it had eaten everything in the knee, basically have to have it redone. Nothing I could have done. Q. What did it eat? CURT PHILLIPS: I guess the infection in there caused an environment that the ACL couldn't take. It had gotten into the rest of the tissue, so it had to be cleaned out. I think that was the low point for me, having something that was outside of my control. When I re‑tore it, maybe I could have rehabbed harder, put myself in that position that early. But with that one, nothing I could do about it. I think it was the driving factor. Did feel a little bit helpless, but I knew I was going to come back from this, not let this thing stop me. Q. What are you coming back to? It's easy if you're the starting quarterback and get hurt, but what were you coming back to? To what? To be ready? CURT PHILLIPS: Since I was 12 years old, I've loved playing football. I was going to play football as long as I could, until somebody told me I wasn't allowed to stop. It wasn't my decision to stop. At the end of the day, when I was 50 years old, I didn't want to have any regrets. Wanted to make the most of the opportunities I was presented with. I think you can live with that if it's something that you know you gave it all you had. If I wasn't good enough, that was fine. But it wasn't going to be because I didn't try. Q. It was the fact of being ready? CURT PHILLIPS: Absolutely. If I ever reached a point that I wasn't good enough to play, I was fine with that. It wasn't going to be something I could have controlled. I was going to put in the time and effort and make sure I was in a position to until somebody told me I wasn't allowed to anymore. Q. How old are you? CURT PHILLIPS: 22. Q. Patience at 22 is not always easy. What is it like to be patient at 22? CURT PHILLIPS: Right. For me it wasn't so much patience. Obviously you have to follow the protocol, take it easy at the beginning of the rehabs. At the same time I tried to just be as angry as possible through the rehab process. I think that's what drove me. Nobody wants to hear anybody complain. More importantly, nobody cares. I think you need to have something that drives you. That was definitely the case for me with this. Q. What? Anger? CURT PHILLIPS: I just think the whole thing. I think you remember the situation. You remember how frustrating it was. Not anything in particular. I think it allows you to make the opportunities you're been given. That was an advantage for me going through camp. Guys wear down during camp, get tired, frustrated. For me, having the opportunity to look back on these surgeries, the rehab process, was the driving process. By no means am I going to complain in fall camp when my legs were a little bit tired. I'd much rather be in this situation than being on an operating table. Q. Given your past, does that make it easier to accept your role? CURT PHILLIPS: I could really care less how many times we throw the ball. Q. Is there a time you wouldn't have said that? CURT PHILLIPS: Maybe. I think early on I was a little bit more selfish as far as that goes. I just love the opportunity to be out there. I have a lot of fun playing football. Anytime I have an opportunity to go out and strap it up, I want to make the most of it. I love having the opportunity to do it. Whether that's being a cheerleader, handing it off, running down and congratulating them, I love that role. Q. In the old days, that's the way it was. Almost a throw‑back mentality. CURT PHILLIPS: I agree. Having the running game being that successful is something that helps me in the passing game. Defenses have to respect our play‑action. They come down to cover these guys. It makes it that much more open when I do get an opportunity to pass. I have to make sure I am ready for that. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: I could care less how many times we throw. Whatever it takes to win. I just have fun being out there, having a chance to play football. Q. Who is the most important person in your life in terms of getting you all through this? CURT PHILLIPS: My family. It's frustrating for them anytime you get hurt. They were never going to tell me to stop playing football. At the same time, they don't want to see somebody they care about getting hurt. They stuck with me and supported me the whole time. Also Coach Brian Bott, our assistant coach. If it wasn't for him, no way I would have a chance to be back here playing. The amount of time he put in here is unbelievable and I'm greatly in debt to him for that. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: Nobody that was that close to me. I think outsiders definitely would be quick to say that. I think anybody who knew me, knew how much it meant to me, they weren't going to shoot your dreams down. I think that's what makes it that much harder on your family, because maybe they feel guilty because people are telling them that all the time. That's something I have a lot of respect for my friends and family for kind of shouldering that and being supportive through the entire process. Q. If you walked out to the street, how long could you go before somebody recognized you? CURT PHILLIPS: The whole way (laughter). Wherever you wanted me to go. That's what's fun about it. By no means am I the physical presence I was before the surgery. I had to drop 20 pounds for my knee. That's just part of it. I'm definitely not the same player that I was before, but at the same time I think I am a more all‑around quarterback and I have much more respect for the game having been through this. Q. Is being anonymous okay? CURT PHILLIPS: Yeah. I mean, I really could care less. Everybody likes to be appreciated, but at the same time I think it's kind of a sense of respect for yourself. At the end of the day, that's the reason you play. It is that sense of respect. To know that you've had the opportunity to do something that not many other people have had an opportunity to do. At the end of the day, being a football player doesn't define who I am. I don't get hung up on that. It's the stage I'm at right now and trying to have the most fun doing it. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: Russell is a heck of a quarterback. I try not to compare myself at all to him. I don't think I can make that comparison. Something I can't live up to. At the same time I take pride in being a Wisconsin quarterback and doing things kind of the Wisconsin way: tough, gritty. I take pride in playing that way. I just try to make the most of it. Q. How many autographs have you given this week? CURT PHILLIPS: When you go to Disney, it's fun. You're put in positions that the little kids, that's people they look up to. I had a lot of fun with it as a kid. I would have loved to get a chance to meet guys that were playing in a game like this. Q. Could you have conceived you'd be starting in the Rose Bowl? CURT PHILLIPS: Obviously I didn't know if I was going to get the opportunity to do it. At the end of the day, like I said, I didn't want any regrets, know that I made the most of the opportunity that I had, no matter what that opportunity was. Knowing that I put the work in, knowing if I did get a chance, I was prepared, make the most of it, I didn't want to look back. Q. It's a heck of a story. You're going to have a lot to tell your kids about sometime. CURT PHILLIPS: It's something I've had fun with. I think anytime in life something isn't given to you makes it that much more special once you do get ahold of it. I try to live in the moment. At the end of the day, I think it will be a pretty fun story for you. Q. Seemed like coach opened up more in the second half of the season. How much does that have to do with the success you had, things like the wildcat, being more creative on offense? CURT PHILLIPS: Right. I think as the rest of our game started clicking a little bit, it did give us an opportunity to open things up. The Nebraska game was big for us because we knew they were very well‑coached, sound defense. We wanted to break as many tendencies as possible. That's something we definitely benefited from. We found our identity here. Allowed him to open things up and be more creative. Q. Against this sort of defense, can you do the same sorts of things or do you have to line up and try to beat them physically? CURT PHILLIPS: I think it's a little bit of both. This is definitely a game we take pride in. Old school, smash‑mouth football. Both teams pride themselves on the way they play the game. I think it's something that obviously we're going to have to be successful running the ball, but at the same time, we're not going to be presented with that many opportunities playing against defenses this good. When we're presented with those chances, we have to make sure we make the most of them. Q. (No microphone.) CURT PHILLIPS: I could care less, as long as we win. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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