Quotes From Mike
"He shouldn't have been out on the field." Mike's response to criticism about tackling a fan 1971
"I like to look out for my teammates. If I see somebody take a cheap shot at any of our guys, I'll try and even things up the next time we play. I like to dish out the retribution; it's all right to hit a guy in the face, but if he breaks the law, he pays. Anybody who does, should be punished equally and, if possible, with more vigor. That means hit him harder than he hit you. But remember, I play the game to win not to hurt somebody. It's stupid to hurt some guy and put him out for the season, but it is ok to put him our for the rest of the game... I don't care what or how people think about Mike Curtis, as long as they know who I am. I'm not an animal but I am agressive... I want to be known as a football player who looks to better himself thru discipline and excellence in the same manner in which the Spartans looked to military life." Football Digest Oct. 1971
"That's just for show business. All those stories about how mean I am just aren't true. Some of them have been stirred up for show business. Show business is part of the game." Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA 1976
"Once I get involved in something I'm intense about it -- I pursue it, if my job is to make a play then that means I have to get there whether I go around blockers or smash them. I just try to get there to make the play."
"I'm a football player, football is my profession, not negotiating contracts. I can't kid myself. I have one job. This game. I have to prepare myself. And to prepare properly, I have to be here. It was a moral as well as a practical decision. My job is playing football, not working at football. I like the money, sure. I treasure it. One of my dreams has always been to have control of $1 million 10 years after I entered pro ball. But if you go out only for money you're not going anywhere. I play football. It just happens to pay well. But still I'm a football player, not a football worker." Mike Curtis 1970 Sports Illustrated
"It's harder because it's more monotonous, I'm more interested in games now than doing agility drills. After 12 years of doing agility drills, they lose their appeal. I just wait for games."
"I tried for two years to get traded, I popped off enough, figuring they had to get rid of me."
"I like to blitz because I like to get to the quarterback." Team Media Guides"
I play football because it's the only place you can hit people and get away with it." Team Media Guides
"They cheer everything. If you recover your own fumble you might get a standing ovation. They're incredible but the test will be how they are in a few years. By then maybe those lumberjacks up there will be tossing logs at us from the stands." Washington Post 1976
"After the game your fingernails are clean." After Super Bowl V - Ersatz Turf
"Bubba Smith and his date came over to dinner recently. He ate everything-the meal, the table, the chairs, the plates, everything. I hardly had a bite or two of anything because of Bubba..." Keep Off My Turf 1971
"No one knows the despair, the abject humiliation we felt that day (Super Bowl III). The 1968 Baltimore Colts, a perfect football machine that crushed every opponent except one in a tough schedule. I felt great anger inside me that day." 1/17/71 James Alder, About.com Guide
"That game (Super Bowl III) never, ever left me in the nine years I played after that," says Curtis, who was 25 when the Colts were toppled. "Even though we won the Super Bowl (after the 1971 season), even that experience was tainted because it should have been our second one. That team that won wasn’t as good as the team that lost. Our team was so damn good and all the guys – individually – were so good. Ted Hendricks. Johnny Unitas. I mean, we were favored by 18 points." NBC Sports Jan. 2009
"I’ll have to pretend I’m smart all the time now. And, since I’m no longer a celebrity, I better wear my Super Bowl ring so people know I did something once." NBC Sports Jan. 2009
“I guess it’s animal hour. I’ll have to go on and growl or else bite Cavett on the shoulder.” Mike Curtis quote when invited on the Dick Cavett Show after the Colts won the Super Bowl.
“Congratulations on getting Coach of the Year… I voted for George Allen.” Mike Curtis said to Coach Shula as they walked to the team dressing room. Colts players who heard this mentioned it to Kenneth Denlinger, Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1968
“I didn’t hit him hard enough. He got up.” Mike Curtis said when asked about his leaping tackle of quarterback Roman Gabriel, by Kenneth Denlinger, Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1968
"the fan mail has picked up, I've had requests for a lot of things I can't possibly produce-footballs, shoes and the like. Soon somebody probably will ask me for a car."Kenneth Denlinger, Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1968
"I like to look out for my teammates. If I see somebody take a cheap shot at any of our guys, I'll try and even things up the next time we play. I like to dish out the retribution; it's all right to hit a guy in the face, but if he breaks the law, he pays. Anybody who does, should be punished equally and, if possible, with more vigor. That means hit him harder than he hit you. But remember, I play the game to win not to hurt somebody. It's stupid to hurt some guy and put him out for the season, but it is ok to put him our for the rest of the game... I don't care what or how people think about Mike Curtis, as long as they know who I am. I'm not an animal but I am agressive... I want to be known as a football player who looks to better himself thru discipline and excellence in the same manner in which the Spartans looked to military life." Football Digest Oct. 1971
"That's just for show business. All those stories about how mean I am just aren't true. Some of them have been stirred up for show business. Show business is part of the game." Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA 1976
"Once I get involved in something I'm intense about it -- I pursue it, if my job is to make a play then that means I have to get there whether I go around blockers or smash them. I just try to get there to make the play."
"I'm a football player, football is my profession, not negotiating contracts. I can't kid myself. I have one job. This game. I have to prepare myself. And to prepare properly, I have to be here. It was a moral as well as a practical decision. My job is playing football, not working at football. I like the money, sure. I treasure it. One of my dreams has always been to have control of $1 million 10 years after I entered pro ball. But if you go out only for money you're not going anywhere. I play football. It just happens to pay well. But still I'm a football player, not a football worker." Mike Curtis 1970 Sports Illustrated
"It's harder because it's more monotonous, I'm more interested in games now than doing agility drills. After 12 years of doing agility drills, they lose their appeal. I just wait for games."
"I tried for two years to get traded, I popped off enough, figuring they had to get rid of me."
"I like to blitz because I like to get to the quarterback." Team Media Guides"
I play football because it's the only place you can hit people and get away with it." Team Media Guides
"They cheer everything. If you recover your own fumble you might get a standing ovation. They're incredible but the test will be how they are in a few years. By then maybe those lumberjacks up there will be tossing logs at us from the stands." Washington Post 1976
"After the game your fingernails are clean." After Super Bowl V - Ersatz Turf
"Bubba Smith and his date came over to dinner recently. He ate everything-the meal, the table, the chairs, the plates, everything. I hardly had a bite or two of anything because of Bubba..." Keep Off My Turf 1971
"No one knows the despair, the abject humiliation we felt that day (Super Bowl III). The 1968 Baltimore Colts, a perfect football machine that crushed every opponent except one in a tough schedule. I felt great anger inside me that day." 1/17/71 James Alder, About.com Guide
"That game (Super Bowl III) never, ever left me in the nine years I played after that," says Curtis, who was 25 when the Colts were toppled. "Even though we won the Super Bowl (after the 1971 season), even that experience was tainted because it should have been our second one. That team that won wasn’t as good as the team that lost. Our team was so damn good and all the guys – individually – were so good. Ted Hendricks. Johnny Unitas. I mean, we were favored by 18 points." NBC Sports Jan. 2009
"I’ll have to pretend I’m smart all the time now. And, since I’m no longer a celebrity, I better wear my Super Bowl ring so people know I did something once." NBC Sports Jan. 2009
“I guess it’s animal hour. I’ll have to go on and growl or else bite Cavett on the shoulder.” Mike Curtis quote when invited on the Dick Cavett Show after the Colts won the Super Bowl.
“Congratulations on getting Coach of the Year… I voted for George Allen.” Mike Curtis said to Coach Shula as they walked to the team dressing room. Colts players who heard this mentioned it to Kenneth Denlinger, Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1968
“I didn’t hit him hard enough. He got up.” Mike Curtis said when asked about his leaping tackle of quarterback Roman Gabriel, by Kenneth Denlinger, Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1968
"the fan mail has picked up, I've had requests for a lot of things I can't possibly produce-footballs, shoes and the like. Soon somebody probably will ask me for a car."Kenneth Denlinger, Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1968
