its natural instinct...has nothing to do with awareness.
He actually tried to hotdog the catch by holding it in one hand, realized that it would be jarred loose on contact with the ground so then trapped it against his helmet for a second.
No one will deny that it was a sick looking catch but it wasnt a super difficult catch to make.  Thats what people dont realize - most of the "ridiculous" catches that are on youtube, are just balls thrown perfectly for the reciever to make an athletic play.  Has anyone ever watched a good D1, or NFL teams practice?  you see rediculous plays on the regular.
catching the ball on a slant with a db drapped on you hacking at your hands, knowing a LB is about to blow you up is a much harder catch to make, but doesnt look nearly as cool.
But i also thought david tyree's superbowl catch wasnt all that sick except for the fact that it was super clutch.