Michael Boulware Quotations

The possibility to play this game is very exciting and very motivating. The play I got hurt on, I played a little tentative, and I think it made me realize that if you played tentative you're going to get hurt.

So instead of Grant coming free, I came free. I can't count that.

My goal for next year and the playoffs is to be able to create plays. Be a playmaker.

(But) when it hit, it jostled us up pretty good. My knees got jammed up pretty good, and my hips.

I had a stellar rookie year. This year has to be better.

I can't live off what I did in the past,

I thought everybody used the 12th Man. I can't believe they're really serious about it. I know for me, as a defensive player, our 12th Man is huge. I need the 12th Man. They give us an advantage. I just hope this thing just goes away.

It is motivation for us, but that's just a glimpse of our season. Every game we've been the underdogs, and people have not picked us to do well and have thought that we've been lucky the whole year and that we would never make it to the Super Bowl. Here we are, and we're here to show the world that we're a good team and that we're the best.

I was very surprised. I was concerned about being able to walk again, and even possibly having to retire. And the possibility to maybe play in this game is very exciting and motivating for me.

People have been talking down about us all year.

Marquand is like a coach out there on the field. I attribute a lot of my success and a lot of my learning as a safety to him because he's been right by my side, helping me out the whole way. Last year it was just me and him on the sideline, talking the game when we weren't playing. He knows the game very, very well and loves to study it.

It didn't surprise me at all, ... It really didn't.

We have the No. 1 offense in the NFL. We hear that a lot. That helps us to practice and play harder.

We definitely are aware that we have to play a lot better on defense. Any phase of their offense, they can beat you in. We're going to have to stop all phases of their offense.

We should not be thinking about records or being the best but about doing the things we do best and not getting cocky or arrogant.

We don't care what anybody thinks about us. (We don't care) what the analysts say. We're going to play our game on Sunday. If we win and they still don't think we're the best, we really don't care.

We think we should be mentioned with the top defenses in the league. We haven't really gotten the credit we think we deserve.

We had something special going last year, and we let it slip through our hands. We're getting another shot at it this year. We've got some key (new) guys that are coming in to help us out, so hopefully if we get in that situation again, the outcome will be in our favor.

We've been overlooked the whole season. Now we've shown the world we deserve to be here. We knew we were better than people were saying. I think we got that point across.

We've heard all that kind of talk. That just motivates us more. We've done everything we can do.

to read the angles of receivers and how they're coming off the ball and what routes they're trying to give me and not get sucked up on the run. I'm still having trouble with that. I still get overanxious, and that is something I cannot do.

Even the doctors were saying it was kind of a rare thing, ... And they were saying it shouldn't happen again. I'm trying to put it behind me.

Enthusiasm. There is a life and a spirit about him that definitely is not here. It's going to be great to have that asset back.

First of all, it was a coverage sack. He had no one to throw to. Then my D-line, they took up all the other blockers.

There's no bulletin board. We had one in college, but not here.

There's more of a confidence. I know that my teammates are going to be there for me and do what they're supposed to do. As of last year, sometimes a guy was out of place or communication wasn't there.

The Seahawks defense is just as good as any other defense, if not better. We have a point to prove on Sunday. Hopefully we can get it done and get a little respect around the league.

(The shades) helped initially, when you came in off he field, it cooled you back down. If we had to, we could have done without it, but it was definitely nice to have it.

A lot of plays have fallen into my lap this year. I'm definitely not satisfied with gimme' plays.

They're right. I make a lot of plays off other people's tipped balls or missed tackles.

There's a lot of new faces, a lot of younger guys, but I think they're building something great here. Once we get that chemistry together and that confidence of playing together, then I think we'll be a dominant defense. We still have a long ways to go, but we have great potential.

There's definitely a lot more at stake when you mess up. At linebacker, when I made a mistake, I knew my safeties and corners were going to back me up. Now, if I mess up, the only person who is going to help me is the ref.

It wasn't that we put extra guys on him or did anything different. The corners played a sound game; they weren't cheating up or anything. The safeties were over the top. The defensive line put on good pressure. That's why it looked like we were all over the place: Everyone was where they should be.

It was really scary. I mean, he was in a situation where he had the potential to die. Super Bowl, all that is nothing compared to someone's life. That was a very, very hard time, a very emotional time for our team.

It opened up for me and I got a clean hit.

It shows you how tough he is and how committed he is to this team and what he's willing to go through.

It's been amazing how he's stepped up into the leadership role and made big plays. He's been a big asset to this team on the field and in the locker room. Coming in as a rookie, you didn't know if he was going to make the plays. Then he started making plays, so I figured he'd hit the wall. But that never happened. He's just gotten better and better.

Steve Smith deserves that kind of credit, and you know you have to give him that kind of respect. But we wanted to show people that we deserved to be here, that we also deserved that kind of respect. We knew we were better than what people were saying about us.

The attention is nice at first, but it gets kind of old. You just want to focus on the game. Now we can really focus on game and not worry about what we have to say. It's going to be a relief.

Talk is talk. Football is football. If what somebody says affects the way you play on Sunday, you don't belong in the NFL.

It was a good effort by our defense. The D-line got a good rush, and the corners got a good jam, and we played over the top. So I think it was a team effort that got it done.

Their passing game is effective because of their second effort. Once they get in a scramble mode, they're really effective.

I mean, if somebody has a dirty face and you don't say it's dirty, then they don't know to wash it.

I never really did like linebacker. In high school I played receiver. I was already undersized. I never got over 220, ... Back at safety, I'm starting to have a love for the game again. In college it was more like a job that I had to do to get an education and get a job and make money. But now I'm doing it for the love again.

In a championship game, you can't afford any mistakes. I thought I was going to be able to swat the ball down. I just completely missed it and he caught it, and he just beat me on that play.

Hey, if he's willing to risk it, I'm willing to give it, too. We're all excited. We couldn't wait for him to come back.

He's why USC lost, and he's why we're here.