Hundreds gathered Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Valencia to hear New York Giants running back Shane Vereen talk about his career, Super Bowl championship and Santa Clarita upbringing, including his first coach.

The humble, affable Valencia High standout, who went on to play at Cal and last season became the first SCV resident to win a Super Bowl, gave much of the credit for his success to his family.

“I’ve never had a coach stricter than my mom,” he said, looking to her in the crowd. “If my brother and I were ever on the couch for 30 or more minutes, she’d say, ‘Don’t you have a route you could be running?… because if not, you can take out the trash,’” he joked.

As the Vereen family looked on, he also credited his younger brother, Chicago Bears safety Brock Vereen, and the influence from his father, who also helped instill the importance of education.

“A lot of people use the term NFL as in Not For Long,” Vereen said, speaking to a crowd that included Pee Wee football players and several current Valencia Vikings football players, and reminding them of the importance of an education, due to the average football career last about four years. “The one thing (my dad) is most proud of is my graduation from Cal.”

He stressed the importance of not giving up on goals and the hard work involved in professional sports to the younger members of the audience, and also touched on current events.

Vereen backed up Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best at Cal, and talked about the moment he became the starter in 2009, after Best hurt himself in a game, when asked about it by ABC7 sports broadcaster Curt Sandoval.

“That was a bad day,” he said, describing a dark pall that came over the Memorial Stadium crowd in Berkeley when Best was forced to miss the rest of an Oregon State game with a concussion.

“You never can be fully prepared when your moment comes, but you can be as prepared as possible,” he said.

Sandoval asked his own questions and took them from the crowd, who tweeted them using the hashtag “#SCVChamber.”

Vereen also admitted that after the Seattle Seahawks made it to the 1-yard-line in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIX, he was thinking: “We’re going to have to score again,” referring to the Seahawks’ controversial decision to pass.

The pass, which led to a game-ending interception by the Patriots, was questioned repeatedly by sports pundits and fans alike across America. “I didn’t think Beast Mode (Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch) would have too much trouble getting in… I mean, our defense is pretty good, but he’s a pretty good running back.”

His reaction to finding out he’d achieved a lifelong dream and Super Bowl championship with the Patriots last year — especially after losing in 2011 to a “circus catch” from Giants wide receiver Dave Tyree — “is hard to put into words.”

He’ll never forget make “confetti angels” in Arizona after the final whistle, he said.

He also responded to a Sandoval question about “Deflategate,” a pre-Super Bowl controversy surrounding claims the Patriots under-inflated footballs, and another about former teammate and quarterback Tom Brady’s trademark glare for anyone who drops a pass.
“We didn’t let it get bigger than the team,” Vereen said of Deflategate, adding it was frustrating to see the attention focused away from the team’s accomplishments.

As far as Brady’s icy stare: “You don’t want that look, because what follows the look is a lot of bleeps.”

However, Brady is one of the most competitive individuals he’s ever met, Vereen said, whether it was a warm-up or the big game — and shared lessons the running back will take with him to his new team, the Giants.

He also recalled when he first began playing at Cal, going from a great deal of success as a Viking to being another freshman at a major Division I program.

“There were a lot of times when I was told, ‘No,’ when I wasn’t the main guy,” he said, talking about his transition from the Santa Clarita Valley to Cal.

“I think the biggest thing,” he said, mostly to the younger members of the audience, “is having self-confidence.”