Michael Boulware (born September 17, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

and was selected by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the second round of the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. He also played in the NFL for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. Boulware's older brother

Peter Boulware Peter Nicholas Boulware (born December 18, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for nine seasons with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Flori ...

also played in the NFL.

Early life

Boulware attended Spring Valley High School in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He played

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

on the school's football team. Boulware was selected as South Carolina's

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

in 1999; he committed to play

for the

College career

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

(FSU) he started every game in 2001 at strongside linebacker, and was an All-America candidate in his senior year. As a Freshman he was FSU's top tackler on kickoff teams; he was 21st on the team with 21 tackles. As a Sophomore he ranked 4th in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. He led the Seminole defense in scoring with two touchdowns, and ranked 4th on the team in tackles with 81. As a Junior he started every game at strongside line-backer. He was a semifinalist for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

, and named to the All-ACC second-team.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

After college, Boulware went on to play for the

defense as a part-time linebacker and strong safety. In his rookie year he had a forced fumble, a sack, fifty-three tackles and most impressively, intercepted five passes, the most interceptions for any rookie ever to play for the Seahawks (until Earl Thomas did it in 2010). The end of his second year proved to be rewarding as the Seahawks played in

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

, in which he intercepted a pass from

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. ( ; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Ste ...

. On Wednesday, October 25,

Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...

, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, announced Jordan Babineaux would replace Michael Boulware at the free safety position. Mike Holmgren said that Boulware could get his job back later in the season, which he did in the December 24 game against San Diego.

Houston Texans

On September 1, 2007, the Seahawks traded Boulware to the

for former first-round pick Jason Babin.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 20, 2008, the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

signed Boulware to a one-year contract. On August 28, 2008, he suffered a wrist injury and was subsequently placed on IR on August 30, 2008, ending his season.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed *

Coaching

In 2015, he was an assistant football coach at Cardinal Newman High School. He joined the staff of his alma mater, Spring Valley High School, as a safeties and linebackers coach in 2018.

Family

His wife Jessica is a former pitcher for the Florida State University softball team, and was named an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. They were married in 2004. They have a son, Michael Jr, and a daughter, Aspen. His nephew Tyler Wilson plays international soccer for Puerto Rico.UC Riverside profile of Tyler Wilson
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulware, Michael 1981 births Living people American football safeties Florida State Seminoles football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Minnesota Vikings players Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Columbia, South Carolina