Sod Talk: Anquan Boldin reflects on FSU Hall of Fame career
Two decades after his Florida State career came to a close, star wide receiver Anquan Boldin was inducted into the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame this past month.
In conjunction with that accomplishment, Boldin took part in a “Sod Talk” interview with another former Florida State great, Corey Simon, to look back at the receiver’s career at FSU, his time in the NFL and his lifetime of philanthropic work.
The conversation started with Boldin explaining how he came to Florida State in 1999 as a decorated quarterback but moved to wide receiver because he wanted to play early and was buried on the depth chart behind future Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke and others.
“I’m not used to watching practice, I’m used to participating in practice,” Boldin recalled.
When he went to legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden’s office during preseason camp to discuss his frustration, Bowden offered him the opportunity to move to wide receiver or running back. Boldin had played neither, but he decided to give receiver a try.
“Two weeks later, we played Louisiana Tech in the home opener, and I scored two touchdowns,” Boldin said.
While Florida State’s receiver room was loaded at the time, featuring stars like Peter Warrick, Ron Dugans and Snoop Minnis, Boldin said he loved learning from them and working on his craft. He went on to catch 41 passes as a sophomore and then 65 for 1,011 yards and 13 touchdowns as a redshirt junior after missing the 2001 season with a knee injury.
He was named the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award winner after that season for overcoming adversity.
Looking back at his college career, Boldin is particularly proud of leading Florida State back to the Sugar Bowl in his final season and also never losing to the Florida Gators in a game he played. The Seminoles lost to UF when he was sidelined in 2001, but they knocked off a higher-ranked Gators squad in 2002; Boldin caught eight passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
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“Any time I ever stepped on the football field, I never lost to Florida,” Boldin said.
After playing in two national championship games at Florida State, the wide receiver also played in two Super Bowls during his 13-plus seasons in the NFL. He finished his pro career with 1,076 receptions for 13,779 yards and 82 touchdowns, but he acknowledged that he did find himself wondering what kind of quarterback he could have been had he stayed at that position.
“I thought about it several times,” Boldin said. “Had I just been patient, but again, things worked out the way that they did. I think it turned out pretty good on my end.”
Among his many accomplishments in the NFL were being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2003, three Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl victory with the Baltimore Ravens.
Boldin also was named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2015 for his charitable work. He and his wife donated $1 million to establish the Anquan and Dionne Boldin Scholarship Fund, which awards several $10,000 scholarships each year to high school students. And he has hosted food drives, Christmas shopping sprees and other events for the underprivileged in South Florida.
“To me, it was about giving back as much as I can in any way that I can,” Boldin told Simon. “We wanted to make sure that kids who wanted to go off to college and get a secondary education were able to. And we always wanted our legacy to outlive us.”
Boldin also spoke about the honor of being inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.
Watch the interview below:
Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.
