BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Sixteen years ago, the Patriots won their first Super Bowl of the Bill Belichick era over the Rams.
Josh McDaniels was on staff, but had a much different role than he will on Sunday. The current offensive coordinator was a defensive assistant and his gameday role had him taking still photos from the press box.
"I was pressing a button in the press box taking still photos for the coaches in the booth in New Orleans," McDaniels said Thursday. "I was breaking the film down on defense that year and that was my job on game day."
McDaniels was able to make it down to the field to be part of the postgame celebration with his wife. He recalled how poor they were at that point in their lives since he was just breaking into the league.
"It was one of those moments you don't plan for," he said. "You have no idea it was coming and all of a sudden we were 14-point underdogs and we win. There we were down on the field celebrating not really sure what the hell just happened. It was a great time and we have a lot of pictures to remember it by."
Sunday night against the Eagles will in all likelihood be McDaniels' last game as a member of the Patriots, as he appears to be the next coach of the Colts.
Despite this, McDaniels' sole focus remains on Super Bowl LII.
"I am doing what I need to be doing, which is staying focused on the task," he said. "This defense and the team we are playing is tremendous. This achievement of getting here is not what our goal was. Our goal was to try and compete and win on Sunday.
"This step of the way takes the most effort and the most work. It demands the most of your time. It is really hard to do any of that. That is what this requires. If you want to win on Sunday, you're going to leave everything you've got on the field and you're going to turn over every stone along the way to be prepared and ready to go."
