Bengals HC Zac Taylor: Seeing Super Bowl LIII celebrations 'was crushing'

The last time Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was part of the NFL's biggest stage, he was serving as quarterbacks coach of the Los Angeles Rams side that was preparing to meet Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl LIII showdown three Februarys ago. 

By all accounts, Taylor knew he was heading to Cincinnati before the Rams fell to the Patriots 13-3, and the Bengals officially named him head coach the following day. As Taylor gets his Bengals ready to face the Rams in Super Bowl LVI, he spent some time during Thursday's press conference reflecting on the emotions he experienced during his final hours with his former employer. 

"I don’t know that I’ve ever really processed the game in its entirety because you woke up the next morning and it was an exciting time for myself and my family," Taylor explained, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "So that’s a hard question to ask. It’s a good question. I don’t even honestly have a great answer for you because it was such a wild conflict over, really, a 12-hour period for me. To get to where we were at — I still remember Tom Brady and Bill Belichick walking by me in the hallway after they won the game and the excitement on their faces. I’ve never forgotten that. It was crushing to see.

"Then again, to wake up the next morning and be on a plane to come here [to Cincinnati] for a press conference, that was exciting. So I’ve never really properly processed that." 

Today's football world would be largely unrecognizable to fans from February 2019. Brady is retired, the Rams had to ultimately trade once-promising quarterback Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford in order to return to the Super Bowl, and Taylor and the Bengals now have the sport's alleged next great signal-caller in second-year phenom Joe Burrow. 

Taylor will be hoping his postgame actions on Sunday will deliver "crushing" feelings to his counterparts this time around.