Their rings won’t come with asterisks, they can cash their championship bonus checks, and they will go down in football history as Super Bowl winners.
But it’s different for Tyler Higbee and Jordan Fuller.
It isn’t easy to be the two Rams season-long starters who missed playing in the Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals because of injuries.
“Yeah, I was in a dark place there for a couple of weeks,” said Higbee, the tight end who was sidelined with a knee injury. “But getting a ring made it all better. We’re good now.”
“I was getting emotional at times,” said Fuller, the safety who missed the whole postseason with an ankle injury. “It was rough, seeing everybody celebrating and you’re not there.”
That feeling gives Higbee and Fuller a little extra drive as the Rams get ready to kick offseason work up a notch next week with the start of organized team activities.
“My mindset now is we have to go back so I can play in one this year, because I missed out,” said Higbee, who did play in the Rams’ Super Bowl LIII loss to the New England Patriots following the 2018 season.
“I’m definitely motivated to get back there,” said Fuller, who was a team captain and defensive signal-caller in his second NFL season.
But turning it into motivation doesn’t erase the disappointment.
Higbee, 29, now the longest-serving Rams player (six seasons) other than defensive tackle Aaron Donald and right tackle Rob Havenstein, was second on the team in receptions (61) behind Cooper Kupp in 2021. But he suffered a knee sprain in the NFC championship game victory over the San Francisco 49ers and went on injured reserve before the Super Bowl.
Though he was on the sideline at SoFi Stadium and able to offer advice to young tight ends Brycen Hopkins and Kendall Blanton, it wasn’t what he wanted.
“That was tough for me, not being able to get out there and show the world the work that I’d put in,” Higbee said Tuesday from the Rams’ Thousand Oaks training facility in a Zoom chat with L.A. reporters. “But the people in this building know the work that I put in and what I contributed to the team this past season.”
Fuller, 24, led the Rams in tackles (113) and made a game-changing interception in the late-season victory over the Baltimore Ravens. But his ankle injury, in the fourth quarter of the loss to the 49ers in the regular-season finale, sent him to IR.
On crutches after surgery, Fuller watched the playoffs and Super Bowl celebration at SoFi Stadium from his couch.
“You’re not totally sure if you’re thought of in that moment,” Fuller said Tuesday on Zoom. “(Teammates and coaches) would come up to me and say, ‘You know you’re as much a part of this thing as you were before.’”
Higbee, who also had surgery, is back on the field in offseason workouts, but Fuller’s rehab will take a little longer.
The Rams begin organized team activities on Monday, with six days of OTAs spread over two weeks. The mandatory minicamp is scheduled for June 7-9.
Higbee sees no danger of players slacking off after winning a Super Bowl.
“I see how it could be different, but I think we’ve got the right guys, the right leadership, the right coaching staff in this building, that we always want to be better,” Higbee said. “If you want to be great, you have to attack every day and have that mindset, with no complacency.
“Again, I didn’t get to play in the Super Bowl last year, so I want to go back,” he said. “I want to play in this one, and win another one.”
NOTES
Fuller completed his Ohio State degree in business administration and went through graduation ceremonies on Mother’s Day. “I was like, I might as well finish what I started, I put so much work into this already,” said Fuller, who had about a semester to go when he was drafted by the Rams in 2020. “It was really nice just to be able to do that with my family, seeing them proud.” … The Rams’ draft picks’ jersey numbers have been assigned. Guard Logan Bruss will wear 60, cornerback Decobie Durant 14, running back Kyren Williams 23, safety Quentin Lake 37, cornerback Derion Kendrick 6, outside linebacker Daniel Hardy 44, safety Russ Yeast 43 and tackle A.J. Arcuri 61. Those are the players’ college numbers except for Kendrick’s, Yeast’s and Arcuri’s. Kendrick’s No. 6 was worn for 10 years by Johnny Hekker before the punter’s release in March. … The Rams announced they waived five players signed recently as undrafted rookies: wide receiver Lance McCutcheon, tight end Roger Carter, linebacker Andrzej Hughes-Murray, and defensive backs T.J. Carter and Daniel Isom.
The Super Bowl Champion & The Ohio State Graduate
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— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) May 8, 2022