Hines Ward Playing Quotations

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.

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.

When I first got here, it was like, 'Man, I'm playing with Jerome, The Bus. Just getting the chance to hang out with him, kind of molding me into the person I am, how to deal with everything, how to deal with the notoriety, he brings out the best in everybody.

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

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.

You don't really realize you're playing with a Hall of Fame running back until it comes to the end. But for all he has done for this organization, the city of Pittsburgh, he epitomizes what the Pittsburgh Steelers are all about, a class act on and off the field. I don't even think he realizes how much of a role model he is. Guys just feed off him as far as how he handles situations, how he approaches each and every Sunday, how he approaches practice each and every day.

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.

To sit there and do that, and for us to say there's still improvement that we need to make, that's the exciting part of it. Coming on the road, playing here in Houston with the heat, we went out there and did a tremendous job to do what we had to do to win the game.

A thousand yards? If that's how you judge me as a football player, then you need to continue judging me. Me not hitting 1,000 yards doesn't mean I'm any less of a receiver. This year, it was all about me ... playing consistent.

Teams seem to put us in black jerseys whenever we go anywhere that's hot. We're accustomed to playing in that.

You really don't realize you're playing with a Hall of Fame running back until it comes to an end. If this will be his last year, what better way than to finish where it all started?

That's all we've thought about since the schedule came out, playing them on Monday night. That's why I'm here at camp now, that Monday night game. Losing that game hurt. But now we just want to get back there. Starting off with us and them on Monday night? That's classic. That's art.

He's touched every player in this locker room in some way, somehow. I just didn't want him to go out like that, one game short of the Super Bowl. It's not often you're playing with a Hall of Fame running back, and a Hall of Fame guy, period. I appreciate what he's done for my career, and having him come back and winning a Super Bowl where it all started, I'm glad to help him achieve that.

I didn't sleep much. I had nerves. It didn't hit me until the second quarter, 'I'm playing in the Super Bowl.' I left some plays out there I usually could make in my sleep. But I have no complaints.