One thing was certain after the Seattle Seahawks' miraculous comeback victory Sunday: Despite owning a Super Bowl ring, receiver Doug Baldwin still carries around a Lombardi-sized chip on his shoulder.
After helping fuel an overtime victory, the wideout, known as "Angry Doug" by teammates, delivered an intense message for the "doubting" media.
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"Are you ready for this?" Baldwin screamed outside the team's locker room, per ESPN.com. "Are you? How many of you doubted us? How many of you doubted us when we were 3-3? Y'all, I want you to write this down. Write this down, OK?
"When we were 3-3, everyone counted us out. Y'all didn't believe in us," he continued, walking back and forth in front of about 30 reporters. "A whole bunch of people thought we weren't going to make it. At 6-4, it was, 'Ah, that's OK. They have a winning record, but they aren't going to make the playoffs.'
"At 16-0 at the half (Sunday), how many of y'all counted us out? How many of y'all doubted us?"
"It is indicative of our season,'' said Baldwin, who finished the game with six catches for 106 yards. "Y'all didn't want to believe in us. It's OK. We don't need you to believe. We're going to believe in ourselves. We ain't worried about you. We are worried about ourselves.
"When we were down 16-0 at the half, guess what we said? 'Don't trip.' You don't win the game in 30 minutes. You win it in the second half. We did what we do. We played Seahawks football. And now, we'll see y'all at the Super Bowl."
All that was missing was a "hide yo kids, hide yo wife."
Baldwin had some specific problems with media critics, most notably NFL Media's Deion Sanders.
When asked by NFL Media's Steve Wyche about the resiliency of the Seahawks' receivers Sunday, Baldwin responded:
"I don't know, that's just what 'pedestrian, average, mediocre' receivers do. What's up my man Deion Sanders? We 'aiiiiight,' huh? We 'aiiiiight'? Yeah We 'aiiight.' We are going to go to the Super Bowl again being 'aiight'."
For a player who says he doesn't care what outsiders think, Baldwin sure has an entertaining way of responding to all the critiques. And for that, we thank him.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps Championship Sunday, and breaks down the Seahawks' historic comeback against the Packers. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.