ABC News(HOUSTON) — New England Patriots running back James White said his quarterback, Tom Brady, did not have to say much Sunday night as he huddled the offense in overtime of Super Bowl 51.
“He didn’t really say much,” White said Monday on Good Morning America, explaining that Brady told them to just keep playing well. “Guys are just wanting to go out and execute.”
He continued, “We got the ball in overtime. We wanted to put it away right then and there.”
It was White, 25, who put the game away just seconds later, inching the ball into the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Patriots a stunning 34-28 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Houston.
“I just ran away,” White said of running past the end zone after he scored. “It made this all feel surreal. It still doesn’t even feel real right now.”
The Patriots overcame a 25-point deficit in the victory, giving White his second Super Bowl ring in three years in the NFL.
“I don’t take it for granted,” said White, a Florida native who played for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It was an amazing comeback. It was an amazing team win.”
The game-changing moment, according to White, came in the fourth quarter when Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower stripped the ball out of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan’s hand. The Patriots would go on to score and later tie the game.
“Hightower got that strip sack and I think that gave us even more energy,” he said. “We rode that wave throughout the rest of the game.”
Behind the scenes, White said it was Brady and other players who motivated the team.
“Tom kept us motivated on the sidelines…Just keep fighting,” White said. “We didn’t play very well in the first half but we knew we’d come out in the second half and defense gets stops, offense put up points and the lead would continue to decrease and we’ll be in position to win the football game.”
The Patriots’ win marked the biggest come-from-behind victory in Super Bowl history, the first overtime in Super Bowl history and a record fifth Super Bowl win for both Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
White attributed the Patriots’ success to Belichick’s embrace of the team ethos.
“You learn it from the first day you step into the building,” he said. “You learn what coach Belichick wants from you.”
White explained, “He challenges you as a man. He challenges you as a player. I mean, some guys aren’t going to like it, some guys will but we play for one another. You play for your coaches, play for your teammates. I think that helps us get victories.”
Brady took home the Super Bowl MVP title, his fourth win, but it was White who earned the accolades of his teammates, including Brady, who called White “everything you want in a teammate and football player.”
“It feels great,” White said. “I want to come into the workday each and every day and give my best, whether it’s on the practice field or in the meeting room. I just want to be an accountable football player so when my number is called out there, I’m ready to answer that call.”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
