Mike Jones' game-saving tackle touched off the Rams' Super Bowl celebration.

He still had all of his uniform on except for his shoes and socks. Wave after wave of reporters streamed by and stopped, not allowing him space to escape for a shower or treatment to his sprained right ankle.

But Jones didn't mind. In fact, he seemed to accept the fact that he, the last Ram standing in their exciting 23-16 Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans, would also be the last Ram to head into the cold Atlanta night.

It comes with the territory when you make the game-saving tackle at the goal line as time expires.

"Oh man, I was so happy to look up and see double-zeros on the clock," Jones said. "I was so damn tired I didn't even want to get up."

Not that Jones had to do much work to pick himself up off the Georgia Dome turf. His teammates were happy to help following his tackle of receiver Kevin Dyson that stopped the Titans just a foot or so short of the touchdown that would have led to a PAT kick and the first Super Bowl overtime.

"I knew I had him," said Jones, who had an angle and more than 40 pounds on Dyson. "In fact, I don't think he saw me, 'cause he went down pretty fast. I was holding on for dear life. He was not getting away."

And with that, the Rams' hopes of going from 4-12 to Super Bowl champs also didn't get away. It was a fitting end to an amazing season for a team given 200-1 odds in the preseason of playing in the NFL's final game of 1999-2000.

"You're just totally exhausted after a game like that," said one of Jones' linebacker mates, Todd Collins. "Just like the fans, I guess. You're getting beat on, you're beating on people and you're tired -- that's the kind of emotion. It's just totally draining. But what a great feeling this is."

"We played with a lot of character all season," said another of the Rams linebackers, London Fletcher. "We felt like the only team that could beat us, was us. A lot of people in the media thought it was us being cocky, but that's just the way we felt. We knew that we had a great football team. Hopefully, we earned a lot of people's respect today."

Guard Adam Timmerman had already won a Super Bowl, with Green Bay in 1996. But he said this one is special because of the circumstances involving St. Louis' recent history of losing.

"This one is awesome. It's hard to compare the two," Timmerman said. "For this team to step up and do the huge turnaround, my hat's off to all my teammates. It's just been a great feeling all year to see these guys winners again. You know, I think (this one) is sweeter just from the standpoint that nobody really thought we could do it."

Rookie Torry Holt didn't look like he should have been enjoying the victory all that much. After leading the Rams with seven receptions for 109 yards -- both figures Super Bowl rookie records -- and a touchdown, he couldn't raise his right arm much higher than shoulder level.

"My right shoulder is killing me," he said. "But it's worth it. We're the world champions. Everyone stuck their necks out, worked hard and played all year long. We went out there and played together, and we're the world champions. There's no better feeling."

"It's a dream come true," added running back Marshall Faulk, who rushed only 10 times for 17 yards but added 90 yards on five receptions. "When you start playing football as a little kid, you're out there playing around with your friends, pretending it's the Super Bowl. But this one isn't pretend."

"This is the best feeling to have as a football player," offensive tackle Orlando Pace said. "We worked hard starting with minicamps, through training camp, and then we had a great season. And this was a great ending. Every football player who plays the game wants to get to this point. It's just really exciting. I'm really happy to be a part of this team."

"We can talk about money, but every player out on that field played hard today," said wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who caught the winning touchdown pass and finished with a game-high 162 yards on six receptions. "We just won the Super Bowl championship, and we get the rings."