The first time I stepped on a football field in January I had no idea what I was walking into. I was a wide-eyed rookie in St. Louis; a year after the Rams had won the Super Bowl. I thought it would be like any other Sunday, just another game.

That lasted until kickoff. I was just a special teamer, but I felt like I had played an entire season after covering kicks all day. The collisions were like car accidents. I was hit so hard on the first kickoff that my mouthpiece suddenly vanished and blood streamed down from my upper lip.

That was my introduction to playoff football and it was the farthest thing from regular season action as it gets.

It is different. I don’t know how else to describe it. I played on four teams who advanced to January, and those games, the ones when the spotlight is on every player, are the one’s I remember. The practices are more intense, the meetings are longer and your overall preparation increases.

This story continues below
Advertisement

Two years later, I was starting against the Atlanta Falcons in the snow of Lambeau Field on a typical northern Wisconsin winter night. I registered 15 tackles, and went from a special teams and nickel guy to a full-time starter the following season. Sure, a 15-tackle night is great, but it gains attention when performed in January. Play the same game in October, and you get your name in the paper. Do it in the playoffs, you get your name in the paper — and a new contract.

As well as I played, I was part of the first team to lose a home playoff game in Green Bay Packer history. It was embarrassing. I felt like we let down the legends.

Suddenly, the season is over. No warning. No offseason plans. It is finished, just like that.

Leading up to that game my stomach was in knots. Here I was, in my mid-20s, with this huge opportunity to separate myself as a have or have not in this league. The pressure is enormous. Forget about Monday Night games. Those are a walk in the park compared to January. For many of us, and I’m talking about the regular “Joe’s” of the NFL, it is the chance to show you belong.

Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, a seven-year NFL veteran, contributes a weekly column to The Examiner during the NFL season.