Nick Ferguson Quotations

As a kid, there are some things you looked forward to. You looked forward to Charlie Brown during Halloween and you looked forward to Monday Night Football.

When I was in high school, my mom hated football. But then, the more I played, the more it grew on her. This game has done a lot for my family - not just from a financial standpoint, but it also helped bring my family together.

My dad was a longshoreman in the Port of Miami. Tough job. I worked down there in the summer once. One day. Never again. My dad was a no-nonsense guy. As a kid, I hated his rules, but as a man, I understand what he was teaching. He taught me you have to work hard for everything you get.

Like most athletes, I like to go home and relax. I try not to bring the game home with me. I might play some video games that are, let's just say, for mature audiences only. And I might get some flak for this, but I like to watch 'Seinfeld.' Sometimes, laughter is the best medicine.

I remember bumming rides across town to Georgia Tech, trying to get myself registered, trying to apply for financial aid, trying to get their coaches to watch my film.

My mom didn't let me play tackle until I was in high school. She didn't want me to get hurt.

The career isn't guaranteed for as long as you might want to play.

I expected to get drafted. I knew that I wouldn't get drafted on that first day due to the fact that not a lot of people had the opportunity to see me play much.

It's always great when a defense is able to create turnovers and score. That's something we missed last year. We'd get some turnovers, but we never scored points.

We played a lot of sandlot ball, so we were used to tackling each other, or falling on the concrete, things of that nature. And nine times out of 10, our flag games turned into tackle anyway. So when I got to high school, tackle football was kind of natural.

When we were in the dark tunnel, Jake Plummer was the light that showed us where to go.

People were talking about their record and how good we were playing, and this should be a blowout game, but I didn't buy into any of that, because I watched this team on film -- offense and defense. Yes, Ray Lewis was out and Jamal Lewis didn't play, but they had other players on their team.

On that play, no one could tell me that ball wasn't mine. It just seemed it kind of floated right over the top of me. It was that type of game; things like that happen.

He must see something in us right now that causes him to do that. When you have a coach like that, you play for him a lot. You play hurt, injured, sick, whatever, and that's the type of coach that you actually need, so another thing that's beneficial for the players here.

He's going to be dancing with a hot woman. Who wouldn't want a second career like that?

Last game, I told (Williams) and Domonique Foxworth, I said, 'You guys have something as rookies that I didn't have when I was a rookie, and that's called confidence,' ... They have that swagger to them where they're not really intimidated.

I think it's the fact that the guy's so confident. He's the guy that all the cheerleaders want to be with -- he's one of those guys. If he was a drink, he'd be some fine cognac because that's how smooth he is. The way he drops back and reads, the way he passes the ball. He plays very poised -- doesn't seem to let anything rattle him even if you pressure him.

I thought he was going to make another spectacular play as he often makes. He didn't make that play. But stuff happens.

I thought I timed it well. The ball just stayed up there.

I thought I had the ball, to be totally honest. It was just thrown a little bit above my outstretched hands.

We have to play in it; they have to play in it, too. Even in training camp, that's one of the things Coach Shanahan talked about. He said, 'Well, the condition's going to change from place to place.' You can't say, 'Well, it was raining. The field was muddy. It was too cold. It was hot.' You can't use those excuses because they're playing in the same situations.

We were pretty much changing up what our scheme was based on what we saw from them. It wasn't anything brand new or unorthodox. But we just had different people on the field that probably wouldn't be on the field at the same time ordinarily. We were just trying to utilize all the skills that we have.

To me, it's not a thing of even imagining. It's something that's going to happen. I'm already looking forward to that matchup because it's going to happen.

Everything is in place. It is exactly where we wanted to be in our hands. We have to do something with it. No sense being in this position and not making something great come out of it. Our work is not done. It's just starting.

There's probably going to be a little trash-taking, but nothing too serious,

Is it still going to be Monday Night Football or is it like Sunday night football on ESPN? ... There was a lot of tradition with that Monday night crew. I'll have to tune in to see if it still gives me that same chill when I hear that intro.

Sometimes it's just pure luck because what are the chances of a running back in this league fumbling like that? Very, very slim.

As far as rating him among the elite quarterbacks, he's climbing his way up there. In order to be considered that, you have to win a Super Bowl. That's why when they talk about Peyton Manning, they are always like, 'Great quarterback, but . . . ' But I think he has a great opportunity to do that.

That's how the game goes. Sometimes it bounces your way and you make a play that play. We didn't have the ball bounce our way and we had that this year. It just so happens in this particular game we didn't get a lot of that. I thought Champ was going to make another spectacular play like he has all year, but he didn't make the play.

A lot of people are probably doubting the success of our team so far and waiting for us to falter, and this is a great challenge for us, ... You want to play against the elite and see how you compare.

They didn't really do anything that surprised us. I think we had an excellent game plan, and we just didn't execute.

I mean, yeah, I had a great tackle on him. It just seems like so long ago. But it was one of those things where you arrive at the right place at the right time and the ball pops out. But to me, that's the past. It's a new day.

I'm surprised that it healed up as quickly as it did, ... but in this industry, you've got to be out there and you've got to play.

I just know it hurts. I got up and it didn't feel right.

How can you not be aware of the fact that your fans who were rooting for you in the first and second quarters when you were dominating on defense now seem like the air's just been deflated and taken out of them? Your job is to try to do your job and actually try to get that crowd back into it.

All year long we had the ball bouncing our way. You get a couple of balls and turnovers that ordinarily you probably wouldn't have gotten. It's just one of those things.

All year long we had been putting teams in a position where they had the ball in bad field position.

The first thing I thought was, man, normally that's us coming up with that type of play.