Uniondale's Quarless in Super Bowl as rookie

Like most Jets fans from Long Island, Andrew Quarless was upset that the Jets lost on Sunday. Unlike most of them, he's still looking forward to the Super Bowl.

That's because the Uniondale High School graduate is a rookie tight end for the Packers and he'll be playing in the game against the Steelers. Not his first choice, but he'll take it.

"That would mean a lot to me," Quarless said of the possibility of facing the Jets while in the Packers' locker room on Sunday, before the Super Bowl matchup had been decided. "Growing up I was a fan of the Jets, so to be playing against the Jets, that would be a good game. That's what I'm looking for."

Quarless' improbable arc to sometimes-starting tight end for the NFC champions is at the heart of why the team is even in that game. First, the fifth-round pick out of Penn State made the squad, and then when Jermichael Finley went down with a knee injury, Quarless had to take on more responsibilities.

"We knew we had to step up," Quarless said. "A lot of younger guys and free agents, whoever it might be, had to step up. It only made us hungrier. We only wanted it more. It's really that energy that we all build off of. Just a great energy."

Quarless hasn't been the only "Replacement Packer" to shine this season. Undrafted rookie cornerback Sam Shields had two interceptions Sunday against the Bears. Rookie James Starks, a sixth-round pick, had 101 rushing yards during the regular season; in three playoff games he's rushed for 263 and he scored his first NFL touchdown on Sunday.

"If you look at our roster right now,'' quarterback Aaron Rodgers said, "the 45 guys who dressed [Sunday], I would say that a number of them were either not with us at the beginning of the season, or were not counted on to play a big role. To have guys like that step up says a lot about our character."

Interesting that character is now used to describe a player such as Quarless, because it was that issue that made him fall in the draft last spring. The 6-4, 252-pounder was known to have second-round skills, but teams shied away mostly because of an underage drinking incident and a DUI arrest. The Packers finally took him with the 154th overall pick.

Quarless has gotten over those red flags. Fourteen of his 21 regular-season receptions came in the final seven games of the season. He accounted for 238 yards and a touchdown during the regular season and made four receptions for 41 yards in three playoff games. Although he didn't make any catches on Sunday, he was targeted by Rodgers on a key third-and-2 play in the fourth quarter.

No receptions in the NFC Championship Game but a trip to play in the Super Bowl as a rookie is a tradeoff Quarless would make any time.

"A lot of guys don't see this throughout their whole careers, man," he said. "To be here as a rookie is just an amazing feeling. It's kind of hard for me to explain . . . I'm still kind of in awe. You can hear it in my voice, I don't really know what's going on. This is just an amazing, amazing feeling."

Even if he has to start getting ready to face the Steelers, and not the Jets.