Spikes talks about his brother, Murphy dedicates game to his mother:
BRANDON SPIKES
Q. (On his brother) How often do you think of him on the field?
BRANDON SPIKES: There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him. Like I said, he’s kind of like motivation for me being able to take care of my family.
Q. You said he deserved a new trial. What was he, wrong place, wrong time?
BRANDON SPIKES: It’s a lot of stuff go into it, but like I said, he was kind of in the streets. My neighborhood where I grew up, it’s a lot of negative people. Too many people don’t ever make it out of there. I was fortunate enough to be around a lot of the right guys making a lot of the right decisions.
Q. But his thing is he didn’t actually shoot the guy?
BRANDON SPIKES: I don’t think I really want to talk about it. He had the same opportunities I had. Like I said, we had a great mother and she did a great job of teaching us right and wrong. He got around the wrong people and my mother was working a 12-hour-a-day job and she was just trying to provide for us when she could. She was raising two boys by herself, and he was older than me, and she got me involved in sports so I wasn’t out running around. But he was older and was able to get out into the world a little bit more than me.
You know, like I said, kids watch everything. Me, I try to do the right thing, even behind closed doors because you never know who’s watching.
Q. Was it a turning point for you?
BRANDON SPIKES: I think that was a turning point for me. My brother was a dynamic athlete himself. He played linebacker, played basketball, baseball, everything. He was good at all of them, great. He had an opportunity to go to school and he went to school, and made another bad decision and got kicked out of school and came back to the streets. He was a guy that I looked up to because he was always good at everything he did as far as schoolwork or drawing or playing sports. He kind of made me want to be good at football, and when he made that decision he got messed up and it kind of hurt him.
Q. Have you visited your brother recently?
BRANDON SPIKES: I haven’t. Like I said, I really don’t get too much time to go back to Oklahoma. I know my mom and my aunt visit him.
Q. Is he on death row?
BRANDON SPIKES: No, just life without parole.
Q. Do you stay in touch with him?
BRANDON SPIKES: Absolutely. Like I said, I’m always going to take care of my family, and he’s part of my family’s blood, and that’s one reason I wanted to try to get to the National Championship.
Q. Joe just said that you and him are the most popular players on defense.
BRANDON SPIKES: I think Joe, he plays well, like I said, when you watch film you can’t help but see Joe Haden making plays all over the field.
I have to say he’s one of the more popular guys with the fans.
LOUIS MURPHY
Q. Will you dedicate this game to your mother?
LOUIS MURPHY: Yeah, man. This whole season is dedicated to her. Everything will be dedicated to my mother. I love her. I miss her. I know she’s here with me. I’m just thankful to God that He brought me this far.
Q. Going back to that time in St. Petersburg sitting in your living room, and now here you are —
LOUIS MURPHY: Sitting on the couch doing our old little interview, and coming to Florida, sitting for two years, and now —
Q. My last interview is here with you and you’re at the National Championship.
A. Miami, Florida, graduated from college, three and a half years. Sitting here I can think back, I remember what we had on and sitting in my living room, mom asking did you want anything to eat, drink. You said, no, I’m fine. God has blessed me, man.
Q. The next time you were painting a building —
LOUIS MURPHY: Yeah, man. I got my eagle scout, and I had a citizenship award banquet, distinguished citizenship award back in St. Pete. It’s just been a great feeling. God has bought me so far. You know where I came from, you’ve been there, sitting in my house. My family has been growing tighter, Coach Rosales has been great. It’s just great, man, to sit up here.
Q. When will you let those memories all come out?
LOUIS MURPHY: Oh, man, when we hold up that trophy then I know I probably won’t be able to hold it in. Oklahoma is a great team, so hopefully we can come out and just play our best game.
Q. Having Percy Harvin back in the lineup how much does that make a difference?
LOUIS MURPHY: It makes all the world of difference. You can put him in any position. Just having him back takes some pressure off of me.
Q. What’s the biggest thing, speed, versatility —
LOUIS MURPHY: Not his speed, his first ten yards. It’s the fastest ten yards I’ve ever seen, and he keeps getting faster and faster as he runs.
Q. When did you first notice that?
LOUIS MURPHY: The first day he came in. The first day he came in as soon as he stepped on campus, his first move off the line, I was like, wow, this dude really has something to him.
Q. Do you have a thought about your mom that stands out? Is there anything that stands out most to you?
LOUIS MURPHY: Actually the thing that really stands out to me is when I used to cry. I used to cry a lot, and my mother always used to say, stop crying, boy, and suck it up. Stop being a wimp. I’m Polynesian and she’s Samoan, so she’d say, stop being a wimp, stop crying, and she’d say some things in her language. Every day if I’d feel sad or feel down, I just think about that, "stop being a wimp and just suck it up." She always used to tell me that.
Q. What would it mean for your family, for you guys to win this championship to cap off the season?
LOUIS MURPHY: It would be great to end the season with a National Championship, the Florida Gators and playing with a Heisman Trophy winner down in Miami, Florida. And to do it all while my mom is right here with me, it will be great.