Mike Wallace Press Conference Transcript Thursday February 3rd Super Bowl XLV
QUOTES FROM PITTSBURGH STEELERS PRESS CONFERENCE
WIDE RECEIVER MIKE WALLACE
(on what he’s done to become a complete player) “The main thing I did was just run a lot of extra routes, just trying to get my routes down pat so I can get to my perfect depth in and out of my break just like I want to.”
(on what he’s worked on specifically with Ben Roethlisberger) “Just the timing. That’s the main thing. Any quarterback and wide receiver has to have good timing and that’s the thing that we try to work on every day.”
(on what the first thing is that goes through his head in one-on-one coverage) “I’m just hoping the safety isn’t going to come over the top, but I know most of the time it’s going to be like that.”
(on what the key is to beating one-on-one coverage) “Knowing that you can’t be stopped by the other guy. You have to have confidence, first and foremost, and you have to have good technique. You have to be able to watch film and attack the guy’s weaknesses like that.”
(on the Green Bay defensive backs) “They’re really good. They have one of the best corner towns in the League, for sure. Everybody’s plugged in, everybody’s playing well.”
(on the Green Bay defense as a whole) “They have a lot of playmakers on their defense, a lot of guys capable of taking the ball away. They play a lot of man-to-man coverage. They jam you off the line and they have really good ball skills. Their pass rushers are going to get there and force some bad throws and guys just make good plays on them.”
(on his thoughts about the possibility of an 18-game season) “I’m not for it, of course. I’m against it because I think 16 games is already hard enough. It takes a really big toll on your body. This is a really physical game, so those 16 games, I think it was the perfect schedule to where guys go down, but it was just enough time where you could make it through. I think those extra two games are really going to hurt, but we’re really not focused on that right now. We’re just trying to win this ballgame. Then after this ballgame, we’ll start thinking about that.”
(on how the young receivers were able to fit in with the veterans) “We really just try to live up to the standard of our team. It doesn’t matter if we’re young or not, Coach (Mike) Tomlin always says that the standard is the standard on our team no matter who’s in there. I think Hines (Ward) and (Antwaan) Randle El and Arnaz Battle have really helped our development because they’ve seen a lot of things and all three of those guys were on different teams last year. So we take different things from what all three of those guys saw and they teach us, and we just use it in our game. We don’t know everything so we just try to listen to the older guys.”
(on if the Steelers receivers are overlooked) “Oh yeah, most definitely. A lot of our people overlook us and are saying this and saying that, but I think the rest of my team gets more offended than we (the receivers) do. We know what we can do. We always get overlooked, but we’re going to continue to go out and make plays no matter what people say or who they think is better. We know what we can do and we know we’re just as good as anybody else in the League.”
(on the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl) “I dream about it every day. You know it ends well, holding the trophy. I’ve seen the parade in my mind. We just need to make it a reality.”
(on if playing in the NFL ever feels like a job) “Yeah, most definitely. When you’re at the facility for eight or nine hours, most definitely it feels like a job. You won’t be anywhere else that long.”
(on Coach Mike Tomlin not holding players to an expectation of perfection) “He knows that you’re human. Things are going to happen. He does a good job of not overreacting. Some coaches, if you mess up or do anything, they’ll get up in your face and do this or do that, but he doesn’t do it. He’s just, ‘Let’s go, I expect you to make those plays.’ That’s what you need. You know you messed up, you don’t need somebody jumping down your throat and hollering in your face. You’re a grown man. He does a really good job with that.”
(on what he’s learned from Hines Ward) “I’ve learned so much from Hines. It would take me all day to say it. The main thing is how to be accountable to yourself and your teammates. Blocking-wise, we need to block because our running backs are blocking all day for us. They’re trying to protect for us when we’re trying to get open. So we have to try to return the favor for our teammates. You don’t want to be selfish out there. Off the field, don’t put yourself in bad situations. It’s quite simple. You don’t want a bad image, you don’t want people looking down on you and he’s done a really good job at it. Hines really leads by example. He does all the right things and if you look at it, he’s not hard to follow.”
(on what has made him a better receiver this year) “I think I’m much better. I think I just know the game a lot more, even though it’s my second year. I’m reading defenses better and better. Hines, he breaks those things down for me. Sometimes coaches, you can’t really understand. We’ve got really good coaches, but sometimes it’s easier to break it down when it’s coming from someone who’s in the same room with you.”
