New Orleans Saints Defensive Back Johnson Bademosi
Conference Call with Local Media
Thursday, April 23, 2020
What does it mean to you to be back with the team that picked you up, what was that week eight or so?
"Yeah, so early in last season the Saints picked me up and it's a tremendous opportunity to be able to come back and join the guys again and just put one foot in front of the other and go towards the goal, which is winning the Super Bowl every year."
Your season didn't end the way you wanted it to going on IR with that injury, how are you doing now?
"I'm healthy and I'm excited to get back out there and train. I know training is a little bit different now. We might not be able to train as a team for some time, but I am still excited about it all."
When you joined the Saints midway through last season, you very quickly established yourself as a core special teams guy, you played almost every special teams snap. What did that mean to you to be able to become a part of this team so quickly and to have that role?
"I had a lot of roles on the team and special teams is one of my roles, but I also play cornerback and I'm a defensive back as well. I was there to help and as you said, be a part of things and to be able to be a part of things was a blessing."
We've heard a lot of guys talk about the culture. What about the franchise, the locker room or anything made this be a place you wanted to come back?
"Well, I was familiar with a lot of guys on the coaching staff as well as guys in the locker room. I think my familiarity with the team and also just the quality of guys in the locker room from a character standpoint, that really made it special, made my experience this past year special and encouraged me to come back."
What have been some of the challenges of kind of working out and getting back to healthy with all the closures and social distancing measures?
"Well, it's a different time for not just me, not just you guys, not just for players, but everybody. We've all kind of been forced to adjust a little bit. The Saints facility is closed for much of our spring training. And so a lot of us are going to have to just be accountable and get ready on our own or at least maybe not on our own, but from the comfort of our home or wherever we live. We've got to adjust. Many states are calling people to stay home and work safe and they're asking everybody to do that, people in our profession and people in other professions. And so we have to adjust. I've just been adjusting and it's been good. I feel like that shape of my life at this moment and whenever I'm called to duty, I'm going to be in better shape."
You mentioned one of the goals being to win the Super Bowl. Have you liked kind of the moves that the front office has been making? I know they've been able to re-sign a lot of guys and bring in some new pieces. Did that play into your decision at all?
"Yeah, they've been doing a lot of things and I haven't paid attention to all of it, but I'm certainly happy that I'm going to get opportunity to play."
Where are you these days?
"I'm in Houston. I'm in Texas."
