New Orleans Saints center/guard Erik McCoy
Video call with New Orleans media
Monday, Jan. 18, 2021

We haven't heard anything from Drew (Brees) about a final decision. But you know, what would just mean to you, 10,15, 20 years from now, when you just think about, you may have been the last guy to snap a ball to him?
"I haven't even thought about that, honestly. But all I can say is, since I've been here, Drew (Brees) has been nothing but a good teammate, a good guy, a great leader. And I respect him so much in all facets of his life. It's just been a blessing, regardless of what his decision is, to be able to snap the ball to him."

How difficult is it to digest yesterday, I guess, with the feeling that, you know, if you don't have the self-inflicted, you know, things happen and maybe it goes a different way?
"I mean, just plain and simple, it sucks .... I don't really have a better answer than that. It's a hard pill to swallow."

Back to Drew, again, nothing final there. But what's a memory of him that stands out for you, as you're thinking about, you know, how the season is over now?
"I'm not going to just name anything specific, but just the way that he came into work every day. He was always locked in. He was always on point, always sharp. He was always, like, I don't even know how to explain it. But, just seeing how he came into work every day and his professionalism. I feel like that really has kind of molded me in wanting to be that same type of player. Like I said, I just have such a huge respect for him and how he works day in and day out."

Kind of following up on JD's (John DeShazier) question, just after watching the film, did anything other than the turnovers kind of jump out as something that you guys could have done a little bit better maybe?
"I'm going to be 100 percent completely honest with you. I have not even watched the film yet. I couldn't, I couldn't stomach it last night. But the fact of the matter is, when you look at just the statistics of it, when you have that many turnovers in a game, it's hard to win. It's hard, hard to win."

Have you guys given it any thought at all to just the possibility that there's going to be a lot of change on this roster, a lot of turnover? Something you guys haven't really had to deal with a lot in the last couple years?
"Honestly, I haven't, not yet. Regardless of who's on the team, I know that I have to come in every day, be a professional, do my job, and do everything that I can to help this team compete and win."

Following up on what Luke (Johnson) just asked you, obviously, (Drew) Brees has been so instrumental in the culture of the franchise. But do you think that the culture you all have created and maybe some of the core pieces, that culture will sustain and it's not just one player?
"Yeah, I mean, you look at it, Coach Payton and all of the assistants and Drew (Brees), they've kind of built the culture around here. The guys in the locker room always say it's a family. And I feel like regardless, that's going to be true. That's going to hold up."

I saw shots of you on the field at the end of the game. It looked pretty emotional. Do you remember one this difficult in your playing football?
"Not that I can remember. This one hurt. This one hurt a lot."

This year was like, really crazy for a lot of people, not just football players, but, kind of all over the country. Like how do you guys feel like you navigated this just really weird season?
"At the end of the day, we're still so blessed just to be in this profession. To be able to come in and play a game that we love, that we've played since we were children, day in and day out. Sure we've had adversity, but I know there's people out there that have faced a lot more over this past year with Covid going on. I'm sorry, I kind of got lost in the question."

I guess one of the things I was thinking about, like, when I was doing my job, I was able to not worry about like, all the kind of other craziness that was going on in the world. Like, would you guys have a similar sensation, do you think?
"It's kind of a bubble, like this life that we live, especially right now. You come in, you're seeing the same guys every day, you're going to work every day. Like I said, you're just, blessed to be playing a child's game as grown men. And you kind of get lost in that and forget that things are so much bigger than what we have going on right now."

I know you said that this one hurt. I know that Drew (Brees) hasn't addressed it and it has not been win one for Drew, but do you think it hurt even more? Because, guys I think maybe realize that this may have been his last year or he was a lot closer to the end than he was the beginning?
"Honestly, I don't have a good answer for you. I'm kind of a sore loser in the first place. So, regardless of any time we lose a game like that, where it just, it didn't unfold the way we wanted it to. I'm going to be pissed off. I'm going to be, I'm going to be down. It sucks, like it hurts, regardless."