"Proving Myself" - by Akeem Ayers

I’m lined up, the ball gets snapped to Marshawn, and he comes right my way. There’s a gap right there, and he’s running through it. Hightower hits him, and Marshawn starts to stumble right towards the end zone. I shed my block and dive over to him — right as he’s trying to stretch the ball over the goal line. There’s a collision. The dust settles. And I’m laying there staring at the ball. Stopped at the one-yard line.

The rest is history.

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To get traded to New England was just unbelievable. I had heard about the culture of the team — the intense preparation and complete focus — but I didn’t really understand what that meant until the first week I was there. New England prepares with the expectation of winning.

You go there as a player and you know the tradition they have, the players they have and the mindset they have. Anything other than winning is simply not an option. And I can see how they’ve maintained such success over a long period of time. When I arrived, I just had to follow everyone’s lead. The organization runs like a well-oiled machine.

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The play always goes to me. I think, Well, damn. Here we go. Let’s win the Super Bowl. I jog to the line and the stadium is deafening. I look across the line. Darrelle Revis follows Doug Baldwin to the other side. We have the matchup we want. Before I have time to think or be nervous, the ball is snapped. I take off. Jermaine Kearse sets the pick in front of me, just like we’ve done it a hundred times. I’m looking at Russ … I’m looking at Russ … I see the ball coming.

I see that ball coming, man. I’ll never stop seeing it.

The next thing I know, I’m on the turf on my knees. I’m looking around like, Okay, it’s incomplete? I look across to the Patriots’ sideline, and I see Tom Brady jumping up and down. And then I look across to our sideline and I see our guys with this blank look, with their heads dropped.

I will never forget that pain. Never.

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IcyPatriot said:

Akeem Ayers suspended four games

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