Boulware, who was heavily recruited by Lewis personally, was a major force in the defense from the moment he was drafted with the fourth overall selection of the 1997 draft. Lewis had him pegged as an outside linebacker from the moment he met him, but Boulware fought the assignment for two years as he flourished. He was a guy who put his hand in the dirt on the front line and went after the quarterback at Florida State.
“Pete hated it because it’s not easy,” Lewis said. “I told him if he wanted to be average, we’d make him a defensive end. Because with his size up there, that’s all he’d ever be. I told him if he wanted to be great, there was more to it.”
Despite the “greatness” label that has been bestowed upon teammate Ray Lewis, Boulware’s career path hasn’t been too shabby: Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1997, a Pro Bowler in ’98 and ’99 and a Super Bowl champion in 2000.
“Peter could be the defensive MVP of the league next year,” Marvin Lewis said. “He’s got the ability and he’s playing the right position to do it.”
The biggest beneficiary of Boulware’s prowess on the outside is Burnett, who had a Pro Bowl caliber year but was boxed out of Honolulu by the politics of the selection process.
“Every time Burnett gets to the QB it’s because of Peter,” Lewis said. “They always have to account for him and it frees up somebody else on the other side. That’s usually Rob (Burnett).”
Burnett didn’t need a title or a trip to Hawaii after the Super Bowl to justify his career or his role as the team’s pre-eminent policeman and father figure.
“When I need to know what’s really going on, really want to get the pulse of the team, I go to Rob,” said head coach Brian Billick. “He’s got the veteran experience that helped this team tie it all together. He loves the game and he’s so well respected. That defensive side is a very diverse group of guys and the one focal point is Rob. Everyone is comfortable with Rob.”
Woodson is in charge of the secondary. Ray Lewis takes care of the middle of the field. Burnett is in charge of everyone.
“You look up ‘professional’ in the dictionary and there’s Rob’s picture,” Marvin Lewis said. “He’s undersized, but he makes up for it with his intellect and his leverage. He’s always putting guys in the right position up front, so we’re never in the wrong formation. When you have that up front, you’re pretty good.”
Burnett’s soulmate on the line is defensive tackle Siragusa. A strange pairing of New Jersey boys with wildly divergent backgrounds, these two had known each other for a dozen years before they ever walked into the same huddle. They had played on opposite sides of the ball in college. Burnett went to Syracuse and Siragusa attended Pittsburgh. Once a year, they did battle in the Big East.
“I watched the film the minute we signed him in ’97 and I saw the hustle right away,” Burnett said. “I said, ‘He cares.’ A lot of times guys work off their reputations, but for me it’s very simple – just put the tape in. When you watch the film, you can see who works hard and who cares. It shows. Goose was going to make a difference.”
The compatibility of their work ethic was very straightforward. Tracing just how their spirit became one is more difficult.
“We always hang out and our friendship is hard to explain,” Burnett said. “We’re similar in that we have the same soul. It’s the way we live. But we are very different. He’s outgoing and flamboyant. Tony likes the spotlight. That’s just him. I’m a little more reserved and laid back.”
From the minute they went on their first roadtrip, they instantly became inseparable.
“It just clicked,” Burnett said. “Someone said, ‘Where are you going?’ and someone else said ‘I’m going, too.’ It was almost instinctive.”
