Possibly the most memorable play from the AFC Championship Game was Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard’s hit on New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley.

Ridley was knocked out by the hit, then fumbled the ball. He later was diagnosed with a concussion. It was the latest in a history of injury-inflicting Pollard hits on Patriots players, including Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski.

ESPNBoston.com reported Saturday that Ridley has no recollection of the play.

“Being completely honest, not much, man,” he said. “Running the football, unfortunately it’s what comes with the sport that we play. It’s a contact sport. He just came down and made a play, tried to make a physical tackle, and that’s what he did. Unfortunately it was me. You hate it any time to see a player go out like that, but it was me this time. All I can say is that I can bounce back and I live to see another day. And I’m thankful.”

Ridley was asked how he was doing — but he didn’t really answer the question.

“I play this game, I love the game that I play, man,” he answered. “People try to downplay it; it’s a contact sport. You can’t be scared playing the game. We all try to be as healthy as we can and try to stay away from injuring each other. At times, it’s going to happen. So all we do is pat each other on the back and keep moving, and I wish the best for the Ravens and also to Bernard Pollard, man.”

– Bill Bradley, contributing editor