Locals in the Super Bowl: 4 games and a torn pec later, Rams' Weddle a world champ

AROUND THE SHIELD — Win or lose, Eric Weddle knew exactly how his NFL career was going to end.

The 15-year league veteran — including 2 1/2 of them in retirement — returned for one final month to anchor the LA Rams' defensive backfield for one last playoff run and had already made up his mind to head off into the sunset, return to his home and shuttle his children to volleyball matches, dance recitals and peewee football practices.

But to end it with his first-ever Super Bowl title? Chilling, he said.

"Never in a million years did I think I'd be able to have this moment as a player," Weddle added. "My career was done.

"For everything to happen, not just this season … but over the last 15 years, certain things had to happen for me to be in this moment. To finish it off the way we did, it's really just something you hear out of a book. You only wish that your name would be a part of it — and lucky me, it's about me. I'm a world champion."

You up for another go?

"Not at all," Weddle said during a lighthearted interview moments after crashing the NFL Network's postgame show. "I'm riding off into the sunset."

Surgery will come soon enough, Weddle said. For now, he's a world champion, which he screamed into an open mic and chanted back, "I'm great!" at head coach Sean McVay, a reference to barbs he traded with a San Diego-area reporter leading up to Sunday's game.

Wearing the green dot given to the Rams' primary defensive play caller and boasting a shoulder harness that restricted his movement after a first-half injury, Weddle posted five tackles in the Rams' 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl at hometown SoFi Stadium.

Not bad for a guy who was shuttling the Weddle taxi service and playing pick-up basketball just over a month ago. And to do it all with a torn pectoral muscle suffered in the first half?

Incredible.

"This team is as mentally tough of a team as I've ever been on," he said. "It just started with staying in the moment. We know how hard it is to get here; it took me 15 years to get here. We just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, and make the most of it. We sure did."

Just one month ago, Weddle was enjoying retired life, watching virtually every snap of the Rams and Baltimore Ravens during the regular season and playing five-on-five basketball to stay in shape. That all changed when Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Sterling gave him a call and asked if he was willing to put a hiatus on his retirement and help his old team out in the defensive backfield.

After talking it over with his wife, Weddle signed a practice-squad contract and was at practice in Los Angeles before the playoffs began.

It took him less than a week to be game ready — and "about two plays" against the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL wild-card round to readjust to the speed of the NFL, he said later.

Four games later — a 34-11 win over Arizona, a 30-27 nail biter over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a 20-17 home victory against rival San Francisco in the NFC championship — and Weddle was screaming into the night air inside SoFi Stadium and making confetti angels with his teammates and their children.

"I always said Eric Weddle would get the last laugh," he crowed. "And I'm a world champion now!"

Weddle wasn't the only former local high school or college football player to win a Super Bowl ring. Fellow Utah defensive backfield graduate Terrell Burgess came off the bench, but did not record a stat.

Kicker Matt Gay, the Orem High product who also played two years of Division I soccer at Utah Valley University, booted a 41-yard field goal, an extra-point attempt, and five kickoffs.

And for good measure, former Weber State defensive lineman Jonah Williams will take home a ring as a member of the Rams' practice squad.

Former Utah State cornerback Jalen Davis played sparingly off the bench for the Bengals.

Each one of them started their respective careers, either in high school or college.

Utah won't win an NFL title, mostly because the Beehive State doesn't host an NFL team, but these four athletes join a growing club of former collegians bringing world-title respect back to the Beehive State.

After all, Salt Lake City played as much of a role in Weddle's development as anyone else — the first village that took a chance on him, welcomed him to a new home, and propelled him to NFL stardom.

Just like San Diego, the team that drafted him and gave him a home for eight years before pushing him out the door shortly before the Chargers left for LA themselves. Just like Baltimore, where the six-time Pro Bowler played all but one season of the final four years of his career.

Weddle thanked them all, making special mention of Utah, where he was the two-time Mountain West defensive player of the year and consensus All-American in 2006.

"It's very special to me, that the people supported me and gave me that extra juice when I needed it," he said. "This wasn't just me; we needed everyone to do it, and I'm so thankful for them."

Just to be clear: No chance Weddle is coming back to try to defend that title?

"I'm re-retiring," he said with a laugh. "It was pretty much set in stone. I'll go back to my daily life pretty banged up right now. But it was well worth the moment."

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