Miles
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- Mar 18, 2019
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When the game ended, Daniels sprinted from the sideline in an instance of pure emotional release.
"When it finally hit zero, I just ran," Daniels says. "… I ran, like, looking to the sky with my arms out, like I couldn't believe that I was in that position, on that field. I'm thinking back. The Super Bowl in general was a very reflective time for me, as far as thinking back to when I first started playing the game, up until that point in my life. I had been playing the game for about 25 years at that point. Just reflecting on my idea of the Super Bowl when I was young, and that I was actually living that, that dream, at the time. It was just my way of kind of soaking it all in, I think. There's a couple pictures that the press got of me running, and when I look at it, I can just go back to that moment, every time I look at it, and just feel exactly what I was feeling right then. Literally, it looks like I'm trying to just absorb all the energy that was flowing around the stadium at the time. I wish I could go back and do it again, man."
In the moments after that, Daniels sought out the people who had supported him the longest. One of those people was Head Coach Gary Kubiak, for whom Daniels had played his entire NFL career.
But more than that, he wanted his family on the field with him. He and his wife, Angela, had become parents a few months earlier. Their son Henry, about 6 months old, was with them, and even though he wouldn't remember this moment, it meant everything to his father.
"I couldn't find my wife and my son quick enough after the game," Daniels says. "… This was right after the game. Henry's got his headphones on — obviously it's super loud. This was the first game he had ever been to — way past his bedtime, way too loud in there. And with all the ticker tape falling, the confetti, you can just see the smile on my face right there. He obviously had no idea what was going on, but just pure joy out of me. I couldn't wait to get my hands on him and give my wife a hug and a kiss. My parents were there, my brothers and my sister were there. Just the people who mean the most to me were right there. I could touch 'em and hug 'em and kiss 'em after the game. It couldn't have been better."