It’s very fitting Ben Boulware won the Jack Lambert Award as the nation’s best linebacker.
Like Lambert, Clemson’s weakside linebacker doesn’t really care if anyone likes him or not.
“I play the game the way it is supposed to be played. The way I was taught to be played. They are going to use their own energy to hate me … It’s not my problem,” Boulware said following Tuesday’s practice.
Lambert played the game the same way when he helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowls in six years from 1974-’84. The Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker was known for his fiery attitude and how he did not back down from a fight.
“I feel like our play resembles each other, but he is a different breed than I am,” Boulware said. “He grew up in a different world. He would probably murder me on the football field. I’m probably close, but it’s Jack Lambert. Come on!”
But from a mentality standpoint, it’s hard to argue Boulware’s mentality on the football field. He plays hard, he plays with an attitude and like Lambert he will not be intimidated by anyone.
“We have the same mentality on the field, definitely the same aggressiveness, but that is Jack Lambert we are talking about,” Boulware said.
Boulware says his attitude and tough exterior comes from his father and from his days in motocross when he was a young boy.
“That just translated to football. That’s how I play the game. I’m not changing for anyone,” he said.
Instead, as Boulware describes it, “I think I’m a normal guy” with a beard and some tattoos.
“I think I might be more of a loud player than people expect,” Boulware said. “I don’t know why people expect football players to be so soft. It is an aggressive sport. I play it the way it is supposed to be played and people are not used to that.
“I think they expect me to be like a dirty player because I play it aggressively. It is football. I don’t know why people don’t like me, I could care less. I don’t lose sleep about it at all.”
And neither did Jack Lambert.
“It is definitely fitting,” Boulware said.