Ex-NFL star Sebastian Vollmer on the Super Bowl: "My fingers just flopped around"
Created: 2022-11-12 13:16
By: Nico-Marius Schmitz
Convinced over the years in the NFL: Sebastian Vollmer.
© Photo: Imago
Sebastian Vollmer is the most successful German player in the NFL.
The 38-year-old played for the New England Patriots from 2009 to 2016.
As an offensive tackle, he protected superstar Tom Brady and won two Super Bowl rings.
In an interview with our newspaper, Vollmer talks about his role as football ambassador in Germany, criticism of Brady and serious injuries.
Sebastian Vollmer, an NFL game in Munich.
What does that trigger in you?
It's been on hold for a long time, now the game is finally here.
Of course we want to offer all the fans something and not just throw the game out like that.
The NFL also wants to be present in the city throughout the year beyond the Munich game.
For example, through the flag football program in schools.
Football wants to be part of German society.
Sport has given me so much.
If I can give back just a little bit through my role as NFL ambassador in Germany, that makes me happy.
At the beginning of your career, would you have expected a game to take place in Germany?
In my rookie season, Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, came to me and said: We'll be playing in Germany in three years.
It took a little longer, but the interest was already there.
Of course, you first have to convince all 32 owners that the step to Germany is worthwhile.
Now we're here, that's another highlight for football in Germany.
I hope that it will be so well received that we will soon be holding several games a year in Germany.
You live in Florida and are still close to US sport.
How is German enthusiasm perceived in America?
Germany is the fastest growing market.
In the last six to seven years, growth has been 20 percent per year.
Of course, these are huge numbers that also cause enthusiasm within the NFL.
I've never heard anyone complain about the expansion.
The fans also think it's cool that "their" sport is internationally recognized.
With Tom Brady, the most successful football player of all time travels to Munich.
Have you been in contact with him since the announcement that he was playing in Germany?
We texted.
We joked that we would go for a beer afterwards.
Even if that doesn't happen anyway, because they fly away immediately afterwards (laughs).
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With his two Super Bowl rings: Sebastian Vollmer © Photo: Imago
You played with Tom Brady for years.
How does the superstar tick?
When it's football, it's football - and nothing else.
Tom Brady is 100 percent committed to the sport.
He is obsessed with his job.
But that's no different with a LeBron James or Tiger Woods.
Away from sports, you can also go and have a beer with him.
Apart from the fact that he's so famous and you can't just go to every bar (laughs).
There aren't only advocates for Tom Brady.
There are many who either criticize or dislike him.
But these are mostly people who have lost to him.
If you are so successful over decades, envy always plays a role.
FC Bayern, for example, do the same thing.
But we should all realize that Tom Brady's career is coming to an end.
We may not see such an athlete who has dominated for over 20 years.
He stands on the top step in sports history.
I know from my own experience how much better he makes his team-mates.
Tom Brady has done so much for his sport and has always brought success to clubs.
Only a few have this winning mentality.
How did your own career start?
I started in Düsseldorf when I was 16 or 17.
I was tall, 2.03 meters, 102 kilos.
I wasn't better than the others because I knew exactly what I was doing - but because I was bigger and stronger.
My head coach at the time, Steffen Breuer, brought me to the national team and the European selection.
As a result, I received a scholarship in the USA.
There was a lot of work ahead of the two Super Bowl rings.
You also describe that in your book “What it takes” (riva-Verlag)?
I came to America and didn't understand a word of English.
I lived in a small shack with cockroaches around me.
Homesickness, culture shock, that all played a role in the beginning.
I've had 12 surgeries during my career.
There was much pain and much suffering.
You lost your first Super Bowl in 2012.
How did you feel after winning in 2014?
Bill Belichick always said: "Euphoria or crash landing".
euphoria or flight crash.
At the Super Bowl you're on Mount Olympus for three or four hours and you see who's left at the end.
Nobody cares who is runner-up.
One is forgotten and one does not accept this defeat either.
In 2014 it was a roller coaster of emotions during the game.
The first thing I said to my wife after the final whistle was: "It was worth it." I should have had a lot of surgery this season, but I just played through it.
I had torn cruciate ligaments in both knees.
A total of four fingers had no tendons left, they just flopped around.
My shoulder was then operated on, countless pieces of cartilage were torn off.
Because you a) are obsessed with the sport and b) see what you can achieve, you want to keep playing.
If you win, it all pays off.
I couldn't have been more successful in my position.
Where do you keep your Super Bowl rings?
The rings are in the safe.
They are of course very big and clunky, they rarely come out.
How much joy does it give you when a German player like Amon-Ra St. Brown trumps like that?
It's the next guard, the next generation.
More German players are slowly coming into the NFL.
Of course, having an Amon-Ra delivering and catching touchdowns week after week makes it even more fun to watch.
With players like that, you can also get fans excited about football who haven't had anything to do with the sport before: "Look what he's doing with the ball, look how athletic he is." It doesn't get any better than that.
Interview: Nico Marius Schmitz