Clemson’s Ben Boulware got a trophy tattoo on his Achilles to spite ESPN

Clemson is still celebrating from its thrilling 35-31 victory over Alabama that won the Tigers their second-ever national championship. A little over a week after the win, Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware decided to respond to some who criticized him during the season. Specifically, he called out ESPN’s Desmond Howard, who was quoted in November as calling Clemson’s linebacking corps the team’s Achilles heel before their game against Florida State.

Here’s a quote attributed to Howard by The Clemson Insider during that week’s College GameDay:

“Defensively, when I watch Dalvin Cook, Florida State’s running back do … and he is an elite running back and there is no doubting that. He is a special talent. But they are supposed to have a special defense, too. I think their achilles heel may be their linebackers. They are good straight ahead, but as far as going east and west, sideline to sideline, Dalvin Cook turned the corner whenever he wanted to against that defense. I need to see the linebackers play a little better, too, from Clemson.”

Boulware didn’t want to forget this, so he decided to get a tattoo of the national championship trophy on his ... wait for it ... Achilles heel.

(Also, Cook went for 169 yards and four total touchdowns against Clemson.)

After Clemson’s win over the Tide, Boulware had this awesome postgame victory speech that was WWE-worthy.

For Boulware, the rematch felt like the culmination of a year spent seeking revenge against the Tide.

He said so himself, after Clemson destroyed Ohio State to earn another chance:

“Honestly, this is the game we wanted. We want our revenge. We want our redemption.”

Hours after Clemson lost the 2015 season’s Championship to Alabama, he posted the following on Twitter:

I usually don’t write emotional stuff like this but there’s so many emotions going through my head right now, I don’t even know what to think. I’m heartbroken because I left my heart out on that field and that still wasn’t enough. We didn’t play a perfect game on both sides of the ball but one thing I do know, is that every man that wore that Paw tonight emptied their tank. I’m heartbroken for the seniors on the team because they poured so much into our team. Their leadership is what got us to 14-0 and their leadership is what gave us the opportunity to be the best ever. I’m heartbroken for Clemson University because we let y’all down. Y’all supported us through thick and thin and we are forever grateful for y’all’s support. Thank y’all for being the best fans in the world. It has been an honor and privilege to play for Clemson University and I am forever indebted to Coach Swinney and Coach Venables for giving me the opportunity to play at such a great university. We were doubted from the very beginning of the season and no one thought we would have the opportunity to play for the National Championship. No one thought we would stop Notre Dame on the 2 pt conversion. No one thought we would stop Florida State on 4th and 1. No one thought we would beat Oklahoma two years in a row. Week in and week out we proved our doubters wrong. And that’s what made this team special, we didn’t care what the outsiders had to say. We were focused on Clemson and only Clemson. Although this is not the outcome we wanted, God is still God and God is still good. Thank you Clemson Nation for all the love and support. We will learn and grow from this. One last time for the 2015 team...

1-2-3-4

1-2-3-4

C-L-E-M-S-O-N

T-I-G-E-R-S

Fight Tigers, Fight Tigers, fight fight fight!

Oh yeah,

P.S. We will be back. Get ready.

And there was this, which he tweeted right before the 2016 season began for the Tigers.

“Experiencing firsthand that loss last year, I want to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Boulware said the couple weeks leading up to the title game. “That’s the main reason and motivation for texting those guys. Get up. Wake your butt up. That’s the reason for our success.”