JUSTIN FORSETT RE-SIGNING PRESS CONFERENCE
On what the past 12 months have been like for him: "I just think back on where I was this point last year. It's just a blessing. I thank God every day for this opportunity to come out and do what I love to do, then be able to find a home, be able to play somewhere where they want me, appreciate me, and [I am] just excited."
On whether he was optimistic this week about finalizing a deal with the Ravens:"I was hopeful, but there were some points there I was like, 'It might be difficult to come back.' But I'm just glad at the end that it all worked out."
On whether he is out of the "friend zone" now:"Yeah, man. They put a ring on it. (laughter) I'm excited about the commitment. I have a place for my family to be for a while, and it's time to go to work now."
On if signing a multi-year contract validates his hard work:* *"Definitely. That's what you work for. I don't think anybody envisions going to the NFL and being on five teams in seven years. They want to have some stability, security, and I feel like I got that here in Baltimore, and I'm excited about it."
On what convinced him that Baltimore was where he needed to be:* *"It's a place where – [after] all the other teams that I talked to – that I felt most comfortable with. Of course, I know the offense. The city embraced me and my family. The fans [are great]. I knew the coaches; they wanted me back. So, it was pretty ... I was pretty confident everything was going to work out, and I knew that they wanted me here, and I knew that this is where I wanted to be, so it was a pretty easy call."
On what he wants to accomplish this season: "I'm as hungry as ever at this point. Throughout my whole career, people have been telling me what I can't do, even from Pop Warner to high school to college and now in the pros, even in free agency. Throughout my whole career they have been saying, 'OK, you're too short, you're too slow, you're too small.' Now, throughout free agency I would hear, 'He's a little too old.' There's always something, and I'm hungry to go out and show that I'm only going to get better with time."
On the departure of Ravens former offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak and the benefits of the offensive line returning: *"[The line returning is] a plus. That's the reason why I wanted to come back, because I knew I had my hogs up front, and thank God Gary [Kubiak] is not one of those linemen. *(laughter) I'm not worried too much about his departure. I think that we're going to be able to excel on the football field and be able to produce even more numbers than we did last year. So, I'm still excited."
On whether he enjoys mentoring younger running backs: "Yes, definitely. That's something outside of football that I love to do. I want to be able to impact people's lives, be able to create relationships. Those things are going to last. This football, money, fame – all that's going to be gone. But the relationships that I have, the legacy that I can leave behind, those things are going to last. That's something, definitely, that I embrace."
On what it was like to have his family with him while signing a multi-year contract: "It's exciting. You just think about all the stuff, all the adversity, traveling from a city-to-city plan, not being able to have that stability. Then, to come to this moment almost eight years down the road where there was a lot of doubt along the way – a lot of bumps in the road – and to be here, I just thank God. I'm thankful."
On if he thought there would be a bigger market for his services from other teams: "We had a lot of teams interested. I want to say it was some things that fell through last minute, but my thing was just thinking about where I was last year [before signing in Baltimore], [how] I'm glad that somebody was interested. It only takes one team, and I'm glad it was Baltimore that stepped up to the plate and showed the most interest when it came down to it."
On being a leader in the Baltimore community and if that is a role he would embrace for the organization:"I pride myself on being able to go out and help and serve as much as possible. If that's what they want me to do, that's fine – I'm going to do it anyway. We're blessed to be in this position, and to be able to bless others, I'm going to take on that role regardless."
On his thoughts about some of the personnel losses so far in free agency and what he thinks the Ravens can do to offset them:"It's tough; we lost some good pieces, some guys that have been here a while. But, you've just got to trust the organization that they know what they're doing. [General manager and executive vice president] Ozzie [Newsome] has been doing this for a long time and has had a lot of success, so I don't think anybody is doubting or worried. I think our core pieces are still here for the most part, and we only can get better. I'm sure they're going to add some more pieces, but I think we can only get better from here."
On if he's had any football-related conversations with new offensive coordinator Marc Trestman:"Not really football stuff, just trying to get to know each other. We're supposed to sit down here soon and really talk, but I haven't gotten a chance to really sit down with him and really chat football stuff. But like I said, I'm excited for the opportunity to play for him and see how I'll be used."
On if he found any soreness or pain linger into this offseason after having a career-high number of carries last season:"No, I'm good. This is normal for me going into the offseason, working out. All the soreness is gone. [I'm] ready to train, ready to get back, ready to be better. Everything I did last offseason, I'm just trying to do more and go deeper in training so that the product on the field is better."
