Hines Ward Quotations

We're in a rhythm now. I'm playing full-time now - we're not coming off the field after one quarter or one half. ... Ben's getting on the same page as everybody, and now everybody's playing full-time.

We started off fast. And for the most part, we made plays when we needed to make them, but we didn't convert third downs and were in too many third-and-long situations.

We're just having fun, and that's what it is about. There are 20 teams out there who wish they were in the playoffs. For us, you have to enjoy it while you are here. And, as players, you have to make sure you enjoy that.

Wow, this is amazing. You guys make us go out and play with passion in our hearts each and every Sunday.

We're still going to run the ball first and set up our pass game through the run game. That's our identity, and we're not going to change that because Duce or Jerome's injured.

We're still a great team. It's one loss. We didn't play particularly well but still had a chance to win the game against the Super Bowl champions. We've got to learn from it and get better, and get a lot of guys healthy and come back and make this 13-game run.

We've got a more confident Ben. He's been there before. He's not overreacting. He's prepared now, he's not out there winging it - he's a leader now.

We were desperate. It's a one-game season every week for us. We've got to play like it's the playoffs, because we don't have a lot of room for error.

We tried to come out and punch them in the mouth early. And they punched right back. They played an excellent game. They can win a lot of ways.

We thought we could take some shots in the air. We're an experienced team and we took our chances.

We didn't want to go through this by choice. That is how it went. Last year, we were a No. 1 seed. This year, we had to win our final four games just to get here. So we've been on a playoff mentality the last four weeks of the regular season. It's win or go home, so we've gotten used to playing with pressure.

We're here without him. We never made it to this point with him. So, I don't think that we miss him. That was a big question mark coming into this year: What could we do in the passing game? Well, consequently, our passing game is the reason why we're here in the Super Bowl. So, I can't sit there and say that we miss him.

We're happy to be going to the Super Bowl, but we want to win. We plan to go there and win the whole thing.

Making the Super Bowl, you are going to have more media requests. For him, it can be overwhelming. It's even overwhelming for me to look at all (the media) here wanting to ask me questions.

Last year when we had home-field advantage, it was kind of more of a distraction more than anything. We had more ticket requests. A lot of people wanted to come and watch. With us going on the road, we really don't have to worry about that too much. We just go out there and concentrate on football.

Since then, we've played in every type of ball game you can think of. We've learned a lot from it and hopefully it'll carry over into the playoffs and get us to where we need to go.

Of course, all wide receivers want to catch all the balls, ... But the game plan that day was for us to go out and run the ball. I only had two attempts, so I made the most of it.

Maybe the world doesn't believe we can go out and win, to beat the No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds, but you have to have confidence . . . . When you truly believe in it, things turn out, and we're still in it.

No, I don't like that word. Just say I am clean.

Now we're going up to Indy fully loaded. Nobody's giving us a chance. The pressure's on them, it's not on us, because they already beat us.

Only in football, as I say, you can get (from) that all-time high to that all-time low back to that all-time high.

No. 21, we've got to contain him - he wreaks havoc in there. We've got to single him out.

I got so upset at myself on the touchdown pass that I dropped. I make that catch in my sleep a hundred times a night.

If this is going to be his last year, what better way than to finish his career off where it all started in Detroit? Last year, we were one game short. This year, we're back to that and that's all we ask for is another opportunity. We're in that position to put him back in the Super Bowl.

I didn't want to make it a media circus. It's something that's part of football, it happens. It was a road I had to come across and I tried to handle as best and as professionally as I could.

I don't get caught up in numbers. All I care about is winning.

Carolina played a lot of Cover 2. When teams play Cover 2, you have to be able to run the ball. We didn't do that. And, we have to stay away from negative (yardage) plays.

I hate seeing me put in this situation. It's totally different. ... I don't even think I'd look right in another uniform. ... It's unfortunate it came to a holdout, because I wouldn't miss this season for the world.

I hated to see that happen to Jerome. Not on the last play of his career.

I can't fault 'Twaan for that. He was trying to make a play. I thought he was going to get out of it and I was going to block, and he ended up pitching to me and I took my eyes off the ball and I wasn't really ready for it. I'm partly to blame. If I catch the ball, we don't turn the ball over and if we don't, we at least get a field goal out of it.

I can't even begin to tell you how do good this feels ... especially after how our season ended last year. Nobody believed in us except the guys in this locker room. All our hard work has paid off. We're going to the Super Bowl.

If anyone wants to play the respect card, be mad at the people that make the odds, don't be mad at us. I don't know how they can feel disrespected when everybody had them going to the Super Bowl anyway. We feel like we're the underdog. Nobody was talking about us.

For us, we don't get caught up in statistics as much. As players, the team MVP is the guy who exemplifies hard work at practices, gives it his all on Sundays and is the guy to get the guys up.

If that's the excuse, Mother's Day, if that's what he says, we have to abide by it, but what's the reason right now? I don't know. I can't answer the question.

If that's how you judge me as a football player, then you need to go continue judging me. Me not hitting 1,000 yards doesn't make me any less of a receiver. It would have been an accomplishment to go over 1,000, but we didn't even pass the ball but once or twice in the fourth quarter.

He was trying to make a play. If he had fallen down on the ground, we're in the red zone. But we tried to press too much and make too many things happen. We end up fumbling the ball and you can't do that.

He had a small window to get it there and he got it in that window.

He had a real small window. And he hit the bull's-eye.

He has touched everybody on this team so much. It was something we wanted to do for all he has done for us.

He is a big pickup in my opinion. With the addition of Quincy, and we put him out there in our four wides, we are going to have four great receivers on the field and it is going to give us a lot of versatility. There is no question he is a great addition to the team. I am excited.

He'd rather have me a healthy 95 percent, close to 100 percent, rather than 75 percent all year,

Hell, I dropped it. I was too worried about my feet staying in bounds. I took my eyes off the ball. The great ones don't miss balls in the Super Bowl. I still left some plays out on the field.

He needs to be mentioned among the great quarterbacks in the NFL today. In my opinion, he's a star.

We can look back at that game all we want, but I think there was a lesson to be learned in it. You can put up all the numbers, but if you don't hang onto the ball and you shoot yourself in the foot, you're not going to win. It's something for us to keep in mind when we play them this time.

When his hair comes down, he changes. He's a very emotional player on the field. He's kind of a guy with a split personality.

To convert on that and have Ben score a touchdown, we had momentum going into (halftime). We came out in the second half and Willie busted a wide open touchdown that put us up 14-3, so that was a huge play.

He's a big kid at heart. When the pressure is there, when times are tough and you need to make a big play, he might make a comment where he loosens everyone up and get things going. He's done a great job of handling everything. This year, he's been in every scenario possible - coming from behind, doing the two-minute drill, he was in a shootout. He's experienced all that and he's going to continue to grow.

He's been through some wars. He's earned that right. Last year, he was a part of the team. He was a reason why we had a lot of success. He brought the best out of me. I hope I brought the best out of him.

He saved the year for us with that tackle.

He's a threat, no question. If you put eight in the box, and we block all eight, you are going to give up a big play. How do you deal with Willie? His speed has to be accounted for. I don't know how teams will defend him in the playoffs. He can go the distance any time. If we block it for him, we're going to get the home-run ball.

I already told Jerome that if we lose this year, I'm not going to cry.

He didn't say, 'Hines, I'm about to pitch it,' ... He saw me and I looked at him. I thought he was going to get out of (the tackler's grip) and I was going to try to block. The ball hit me in the hands, so I needed to catch it, I guess. I take responsibility for that.

He laid it on the line. He's lying there hurt on the ground, and he said to me, 'At least we're in field goal range.

He laid it on the line. He did what he had to do to drive us down the field. Everybody made plays. We came into San Diego, nobody really gave us a chance. We fought our tails off and ended up winning the game.

Ken has done a phenomenal job of distributing the ball. Every week, it's a different guy stepping up.

Joey is a bold man. We're his teammates. We've got to back him up. Stevens, that's on him. I don't believe in calling people out. I'm a big believer in letting my play do the talking.

I think we need to put a good drive together. Don't let us come out until we put seven, eight plays back-to-back. Then, I'm happy with that.

I think when Champ intercepted that ball and ran it all the way back and (almost) scored, Denver had the game in control.

It gave us the momentum. It got our crowd back into it.

It has been a heck of a ride. We get the opportunity to go down in history among some of the greatest players. This is what the Super Bowl is all about.

I think they went out of their way. It was far more than what I expected.

I was a little worried with the holdout, of people questioning my character and being put in the category of a T.O., ... But I went to pick up my wife and son at the airport yesterday and the lady at the Great Steak place said, 'I can't give you a million dollars, but I can give you a steak sandwich for free.' I got a kick out of that.

I was a little ready for it but I took my eyes off it to get ready for a block and ended up fumbling it. You can't do plays like that against the Patriots.

I was just joking. I take great pride in my appearance.

Jerome has just meant so much to us. For him to go out the way he went out (as a Super Bowl champion), if I was retiring and my career was towards the end, that's how I would want to go out.

Jerome has inspired each individual on this team in some form or way. He kind of inspires us to go out and play hard so we can get him that Super Bowl ring and end on a great note.

Jerome sort of acted as the mediator. One thing he mentioned during the holdout - and he's been through them - was not to make it personal because eventually it was going to get done and you have to come back and play for the team. You hold your ground but understand that it's a business.

Last year, going 15-1, everyone's patting you on the back telling you what a good job you did, it kind of got overwhelming. It can get overwhelming even for veteran guys.

Last year, everything was new to him, so he was just winging it. Now he's prepared himself, he's having fun, he's becoming a leader out there. He's a very situational guy. Third-and-short, he's looking for the guy to pick up the first down. I don't know what he was, completion-wise, but he was pretty good.

Last year, everything was new to Ben. Tonight, he was pretty crisp. The intangibles that he brings, I like a lot.

Overall, we made plays when we had to, ... We didn't make enough, though.

Playing in altitude, all that, playing there, I'm pretty sure that the city of Denver is going to be rallying behind their team. It's one game away from the Super Bowl. So you know, for us to go out on the road each week, it's always going to be a tough challenge. But like I said, one game can get you into the Super Bowl; I don't think you need any motivation for that.

Relieved? Yes, ... I dont wish this on anybody. It was very hard to go out onto the field with peace of mind knowing that youre so close. I can go into the season focused now.

People may put them down, but they're the champions. Until someone dethrones them, they're still the team to beat in the NFL.

Stepping up and making that play, that was kind of Lynn Swann-like, I guess. You watch all the highlight tapes and ESPN Classic and you see him making spectacular catches. That's what I tried to do yesterday - just make every catch I could get my hands on.

My mother had to overcome a lot more things.

It felt good. It's still only my third day of practicing and getting a chance to get out here and participate in a live game. It's good to be back.

I thought he was going to be here, but obviously he's not. It's sad. I don't think it had to come to this. ... I've got to prepare like we're going into the season right now without Plax; we don't know what is going to happen.

I thought he was going to be here, but obviously he's not, ... It's sad. I don't think it had to come to this. ... I've got to prepare like we're going into the season right now without Plax; we don't know what is going to happen.

I thought it was over when we had the ball at the 2-yard line. Didn't you? Of course, I thought it was over. Everyone did. Then a guy who very rarely fumbles fumbled, and Ben did a heck of a job to tackle the guy. He saved our year. It was a great play. When you're in your goal-line offense, you have all big guys out there and the only guy with any speed is the quarterback.

Just keep doing your thing. But, if they ask you to play wide receiver or defensive back, just get involved with players and coaches who can help you the most.

Just hit it down their throats. They've got great team speed. When we were down 10-7 against them before, we still had a chance in that ballgame to go out and make plays. We just didn't do that.

I'm sure Cleveland is going to be looking to knock us out of the playoffs. It's a playoff run from here on out. We have to play on the road, and what better way to get that experience than to go out and approach each game like it is your last game?

Im here. Im just glad to be back, ... Im very passionate about football and just driving back to the stadium today, seeing all the fans in their black and gold, a lot of chills went through my body. For me, this whole holdout situation was to show good faith to an organization and (respect) their policy that they dont negotiate with players under contract (who are not in camp).

That was great timing between Ben and I. He threw it to me before I even made my break. That's the timing we're starting to develop. We felt that we had control of the game at that point, but we just couldn't finish it off.

That was a rocket. I made an adjustment on my route. He had to make an adjustment and somehow he got the ball to me. That was amazing.

When teams play the Cover 2, you're supposed to be able to run against them, ... We couldn't.

You just sit there and watch Ben, he played night and day from last year's playoff time to this year's. Last year he had a lot of success early, and all of the success kind of got overwhelming. He's been more calm and collected this year.

You just sit there and watch Ben and he has played night and day from last year's playoff time to this year's playoff time. He's just going out there and having fun playing the game of football.

We pulled it out of our old bag of tricks.

We proved all the prognosticators wrong. This is a big win for us.

We have to stay away from the negative plays. The third-and-longs, those are hard to overcome. We overcame a couple of them last year but last year we were a great team with second-and-short, third-and-short.

We have to run the ball, that's who we are. That's our identity.

We don't feel like we're favored. We're not going to change. We're still playing like a team with desperation.

We dominated ... and we still lost. Hard to forget that one.

Those guys made spectacular catches in the Super Bowl. I wanted to be compared to those guys. I never thought I belonged on the list because they had Super bowl rings. You can put me on the list now.

We have a lot of faith in him. He's earned it with his play. He's proven again and again that he's a guy who can make plays.

We have a guy that when it's time to play around, he's joking with the players. But when it's time for business, to get on that field and get better, he's all about business. We respect that. It makes you want to go out and fight even harder for the guy.

You are based on what you do in the Super Bowl. Those guys had the opportunity to win four Super Bowls, and getting this opportunity is a dream come true for me.

We have to keep the nucleus together, and plug in some new faces, and we'll be fine. One thing about winning a Super Bowl is that everybody wants a player off that Super Bowl team. They're very hot commodities. Unfortunately for our team, you can't pay everybody.