Clemson football linebacker Ben Boulware is endeared by many and is probably loathed by a few because of his aggressive nature on the football field. But despite what anyone may think, he doesn’t care, because he is driven in the right directions, for the right reasons.
Boulware’s play was good enough to get him an invite to the NFL Combine and that accomplishment could be a catalyst to his eventual individual goal, which is to play in the NFL.
He has achieved the ultimate college football team goal with a National Championship and along the way, he was named the ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, a consensus second team All-American, a three time All-ACC Academic team member, and to the prestigious Senior Bowl.
More from Rubbing the Rock
- Clemson Football: Q&A with Florida State experts at Chop Chat
- Clemson Tigers News: New commitments, Ian Schieffelin and Jonathan Weitz
- Clemson Football needs their biggest stars to shine against Florida State
- Clemson Football: Receiver by committee could work for the Tigers
- No reason for Clemson Football to fear a Seminole takeover
At the Combine, Boulware got a second opportunity to be in front of the NFL scouts and GMs, and he made the most of it on Sunday. After showing good agility during the workouts, Boulware took a moment to talk to NFL Network’s Colleen Wolfe and Maurice Jones-Drew. Always an interesting conversationalist, he was asked about various topics including three of his fourteen tattoos.
The first being the championship trophy tattoo on his achilles heel that was inspired by ESPN’s Desmond Howard. Boulware tells the hosts, “I respect Desmond Howard as a man. I just feel like he gave me a good spot to put it.” He also went on to say that, “I wouldn’t recommend it, an achilles tattoo definitely hurts. It’s not a fun place to get it on there.” Boulware’s most extensive work of art is placed on the upper part of his back. That biblical depiction of Daniel in the lion’s den was described by him, “The lions kinda represent all of society and sin. And I feel like you got to stand in the middle and be confident in the lord and confident in your faith. So that was the reason for that one.” The aforementioned tattoos inspire him but the third and final tattoo also inspires him and it’s his favorite.
"My favorite one is for my little brother. It’s a pair of mismatching socks……..My little brother is autistic. And for the longest time, we were trying to teach him how to match his socks. And for the longest time, he wouldn’t do it. So we kept hammering him. He would wear one long black sock and one short white sock. I said Cameron you can’t do that. You have to match your socks, dude. And he wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t kinda conform to what we were saying. Every single day, he wore what he wanted to do, and he was happy. He was happy about life, and I thought that that was a great attitude and mentality to have. Screw what society thinks. I’m going to wear what I want to wear and be happy. So I got a pair mismatch socks for my little brother."
Click here, if the above video doesn’t work.
Ben Boulware is known as a hard nosed player with an edge to him. But he is much more than what anyone sees on the field. He is a young man of faith and draws inspiration from doubters and those around him. Every step that he takes reminds him of his biggest accomplishment and of the person who taught him to stay true to himself, no matter what others may think.
And for anyone who doesn’t like the beard. Well, he vows to keep it around as long as good things keep happening for him. Or whenever, he just feels like cutting it. My guess is that it will continue to grow until the final day of April’s NFL Draft. That day is the 29th. So until then, the grooming will proceed.