Sam Hubbard knows how lucky he is to be where he is right now.
A Cincinnati native who grew up dreaming of playing for the Bengals, Hubbard is now set to play in a Super Bowl – the Bengals’ first Super Bowl appearance in his lifetime – in just his fourth year in the NFL. Making that even more special, he’s shared the field this year with five of his former Ohio State teammates: Eli Apple, Vonn Bell and Isaiah Prince, as well as Joe Burrow and Keandre Jones, who finished their college careers at LSU and Maryland.
“It’s amazing,” Hubbard said. “It’s hard to describe. I think I’m in one of the most fortunate positions of anybody in the NFL, and I want to make the most of it.”
During an interview session in Los Angeles on Friday, Hubbard acknowledged he didn’t see this year’s run to the Super Bowl coming for the Bengals, who entered the season with the third-longest odds to win the Super Bowl (150/1) of any team.
“I can’t say I did,” Hubbard told reporters in Los Angeles. “I had dreams of winning and having success here, because in the past we’ve been pretty down, and just to get a winning season, get in the playoffs is really what I was reaching for. And you just take it week by week and be consistent in your work and detailed in your approach, you can find yourself in this position.”
He says he couldn’t have imagined playing for a Super Bowl with so many of his former Ohio State teammates back when he and Burrow were watching the Super Bowl together at Ohio State.
“When we were doing that, we were in college, we weren’t talking about a Super Bowl together,” Hubbard said. “Never in a million years we thought we’d be on the same team. We were always just kind of on the same path and find ourselves here today.”
Now that Hubbard and the Bengals have made it to the Super Bowl, however, he isn’t satisfied with just being there.
Just as they were going into the season and as they were entering each of their last two playoff wins against the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs, the Bengals are considered to be underdogs for Sunday’s big game (6:30 p.m., NBC) against the Los Angeles Rams, which will be played in the Rams’ home stadium. But Hubbard is confident the Bengals can prove their doubters wrong once again and win their first-ever NFL championship.
“We’ve been counted out many times this season, and I kind of like being in that position,” Hubbard said. “I have nothing to say to (the doubters). I’ll just show them our play on Sunday.”
A team captain, Sam Hubbard has been crucial to the Bengals’ Super Bowl run with 76 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four pass deflections this season. (Photo: Katie Stratman – USA TODAY Sports)
While Hubbard has played in plenty of big games before, including two state championship games at Archbishop Moeller High School, three Ohio State-Michigan games, a College Football Playoff game and a Big Ten Championship Game, he says playing in the Super Bowl feels even bigger. And he plans on playing as hard on Sunday as he’s ever played before.
“I’m gonna give it all I got,” Hubbard said. “I think you’ll see me on Sunday leaving everything out on the field. I’m gonna hold nothing back, just because this is everything to me.”
Although he says it is “amazing” to be playing in the Super Bowl as a Bengal, he’s tried not to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of the event. Instead, he’s tried to keep his routine as consistent as possible and block out the distractions as much as he can, even deleting Twitter from his phone this week so he could stay focused on the task at hand.
To that end, he’s tried not to spend too much time reflecting on what the Bengals have already accomplished this season, instead keeping his eyes forward on what they still have to do to achieve their ultimate goal – which, for Hubbard and the rest of the Bengals’ defense, means slowing down an explosive Rams offense led by the likes of Matthew Stafford and NFL offensive player of the year Cooper Kupp.
“All that big-picture stuff, all that stuff is really cool to talk about and think about, but right now I just want to win the game,” Hubbard said. “I said this after last week, I’m sure I’ll look back and it’ll sink in what we’re doing and what we’ve done, but right now, it’s just another football game that we’re trying to win. Gotta beat the Rams, gotta win my matchups and that’s what I’m focused on.”
“I think you’ll see me on Sunday leaving everything out on the field. I’m gonna hold nothing back, just because this is everything to me.”– Sam Hubbard on playing in the Super Bowl
In Hubbard’s mind, just making it to the Super Bowl won’t mean much if he and his Bengals teammates aren’t celebrating with the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night.
“All this stuff is really cool, it’s great, but it doesn’t matter unless you win the game,” Hubbard said of Super Bowl week. “So all my attention, all my whatever you want to call it, daydreams or thoughts are going into preparation, getting my body right, getting my sleep and putting my best performance on Sunday because you lose the game, this great season we have is kind of forgotten.
“Everything leading up to the game this whole week is fun and stuff, but the real fun is holding that trophy for the rest of your life.”
Hubbard knows how special a night it could be if he ends the day as a Super Bowl champion with the team he’s loved since he was a kid. But he doesn’t want to start celebrating before it actually happens.
“I think it’s everybody’s dream to have a victory like that,” Hubbard said. “I’ve had some great victories in my time, but this is the big one. And all that stuff comes once you win the game, so that’s what I’m focused on.”
