Ninkovich Looking to Seize Opportunity at Super Bowl

INDIANAPOLIS – At a Super Bowl XLVI media session in Lucas Oil Stadium this week, Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich looked up and made a reference to the iron at the top of the stadium.

"I’m not a big fan of heights … someone had to put that up there,” he said. “I don’t think I could have done it.”

The talk of iron work and construction came up because Ninkovich, a alum, worked with his dad in construction for two weeks right before he went to Joliet Junior College.

“I was working on a bridge on I-57,” he said. “It’s got stretched a little bit to say I was like 19 stories high. No, I was on a bridge. It was tall. It was over some water, but it wasn’t super tall. I was tied off, and it was still a dangerous job. It was something that I learned from.”

His father has worked in the iron industry for more than 30 years and that two-week stint was more than enough to show Ninkovich why he should pursue his dreams of playing football. Getting to the Super Bowl is just added pleasure.

“It taught me a good lesson to make sure I continue my education and do something not as everyday-grind and tough on your body for the rest of your life," he said. “It just kind of gave me a really good view on how he’s been working his whole life. It’s tough. It’s not an easy life.”

Ninkovich was a defensive end, tight end and fullback at Lincoln-Way, and was drafted by New Orleans in 2006 out of Purdue. He made the switch to linebacker in the Patriots system and said it’s pretty easy to just put his hand down and rush.

“The more difficult things are learning the 4-3 scheme as a true linebacker, a SAM linebacker off the ball,” he said. “That’s a little bit different, but I enjoyed learning every different aspect of the defense. It gives you a lot more knowledge of the game. Before, as strictly a defensive end, you don’t know all the ins and outs of defensive coverages, the things that defensive football is all about.”

He has developed considerably since starting with football as a freshman in high school. He admits to being a terrible offensive guard that year, but the move to defense the following year suited him well. Since Purdue didn’t have enough scholarships on defense, they offered him as a tight end, adding to his versatile repertoire.

Now he comes into a Super Bowl on a defense that has confidence, yet finished the regular season ranked No. 31 in the NFL.

“We’ve had our ups and downs on defense and obviously, we gave up some yards that we didn’t want to give up,” he said. “At the end of the day, we did great in turnover ratio and we really stayed together as a group. We fought through the whole season and worked hard.

"Once the regular season was over, we knew it was a one-game season in the playoffs. We prepared the best we could each week in the playoffs. Whoever we had to face, we were going to be prepared for them.”

Follow @ChrisVaccaro via Twitter for constant updates from Super Bowl XLVI.

Read More