Michael Pittman Quotations

My heart was pounding like I was a rookie or something,

I was supposed to get the ball downhill. How you draw it up, that's how it worked. The offensive line made a nice hole, and I just ran through it.

I didn't have a clock, or a watch, or anything that told me what time it was. And there was no TV. Just me and the cell. The guards came by and told me what happened. I thought they were exaggerating. I got out in the afternoon and saw it on TV, the planes hitting the towers. I couldn't believe it could happen in this country.

I can't give away too much. But I'm on the field, and catching the ball is just as good as running the ball to me.

When he went down last year, it was a big deal for us, so we're happy he's back and doing an excellent job.

Going into the bye week 5-1 is big. We have a lot of confidence right now.

He's a lot more confident now. In fact, he's very confident. He's got a swagger about him now. He knows he's going to get the job done, and I think he's going to shock some people.

I saw Jason coming off the edge and it was just instinct, trying to make a move and make him miss. And I did that. I thought he fell. I was running. I slowed down a little bit and then I felt somebody clip my feet and it was Jason Taylor.

Penalties are going to kill plays, kill drives and kill momentum and they did that to us (Sunday).

I was tired. I just ran that kickoff back, and I was tired. I got to the 30-yard line, and I had no more in me. It was a big play to spark the team.

I thought I made it when I looked at the replay.

We have all kinds of weapons. Cadillac started off great the first three games. He was hurt today and really wasn't 100 percent, but we still went out there and played.

Both us are going to be on the field at the same time, with me playing fullback, and tailback and receiver and tight end,

The sky's the limit with this running game. I think we all expect the best. I know last year, I wasn't on this team, but I think their running game was pretty low. We're going to get better.

Sometimes people overlook my stats, but I'm not like the kind of guy to go out there to get a bunch of attention anyway, ... I just go out there and play. I had over 1,300 yards (combined in 2004) in 13 games and 10 touchdowns, and it is not easy in the NFL to accomplish that.

Coach has me playing a lot of receiver and I wanted to do that last year, ... But he really didn't put it in that much. Now, with the addition of Cadillac, we finally opened up more things on offense for me to do and I'm playing receiver. I enjoy doing that. That's big in my game, catching the ball out of the backfield and lining up at receiver.

Coach warns us about penalties, he has referees out there every single day of practice and we're still getting penalties,

There's a big difference in his understanding of the offense now,

There was a lot of trash-talking the whole game. He spit in my face, and no man is going to spit in my face. ... He'd get a lot worse if it was on the street.

It was supposed to be Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown today. But I showed up, too.

I told him I was tired, that's the only reason he caught me. I had just run a kickoff back. But it was a big play and the offensive line blocked great.

I told him it's okay. I've been there a lot last year. I know the feeling, you just got to shake it off. You just have to go back in there. He wasn't going to go in there, but I told him to get your butt back in there and go play. I wasn't going to run in there. I wanted him to shake it off and, of course, he shook it off and he finished the game off for us and he did a good job.

It's all up to us. Coach, he's doing all he can to help us and as a player and as a grown man we got to eliminate the penalties and eliminate the turnovers out of our play.

It was a big play to spark the team.

There's thousands and thousands that are coming through, and they're begging and begging for preachers and lay people to come down there and to minister to them. These people have no hope. They need hope, and the only hope they can get is through Jesus Christ. They need people to go down there and share Jesus Christ with them.

I'm going to take one back, I'm going to hit it. I'm not going to tippy-toe through the holes. I'm going to hit it fast. ... I'm just going to keep running hard all through the playoffs and hope that I break one. Hopefully I'll keep improving because I haven't done this since 1999 or 2000 back in Arizona.

I need to make the most of it when I can.

I'm carrying the ball a lot tighter to my rib cage and up a little higher. I take those turnovers last year to heart. Those turnovers were costly and this year I'm going to try my best to prevent them.

I love running receiver routes, ... I'm too big and too physical for a corner or a safety to cover me up and too fast for a linebacker. So it's a mismatch.

He said a couple of things about how he wants to play better and needs to work harder, things like that. As a player you appreciate a guy stepping up like that. He was a man about it.

I believe in making people miss. But I ran that guy over and made him miss at the same time. It all depends on what kind of mood I'm in. If I'm really mad at the time, I'm going to try and run the guy over. If I'm feeling really good and shifty, then I'm going to mix it up.

The guys out there threw some good blocks for me, and I hit any gap I saw. As a running back, we can take any little gap and see daylight, we're going to hit it. That's the way I'm going to run back kicks for the playoffs, and next year, if I'm going to do it.