Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I don't really trust the NFL.
Pat Tillman is a hero of mine.
I've got a wide variety of interests.
I don't dislike football. I love football.
I don't do interviews without a collared shirt.
I wanted to fulfill my dream of playing in the NFL.
You can't be in the locker room reading 'League of Denial.'
Football is inherently dangerous, and that will never change.
Sometimes men and women have trouble with just being vulnerable.
A piece of my heart will always be in football, but my mind ended it.
I think it's unfair to punish players for inherent faults in the game.
I loved playing in the Big Ten, where it's three yards and a cloud of dust.
Punishment for doing your job well is an unparalleled professional pressure.
I don't consider football fun. It's not like a water park or a baseball game.
I just don't want to get in a situation where I'm negotiating my health for money.
I was a history undergrad, and there's some things I could do in academics or business.
I never played the game for money and attention. I love football, and I've had a blast.
I think the one thing I can say is not to play through concussions. I think that's unwise.
I'm involved in so many cool and interesting and redeeming things. I'm enjoying every day.
I loved football. I'm so glad I played. But I didn't think it was wise for me to play longer.
Dementia pugilistica was discovered in 1928... And we still have boxing. Football will continue.
My height might be a disadvantage in some parts of my game, but it is a big advantage in rushing the passer.
Football is an elective. It's a game. It's make-believe. And to think that people have brain damage from some made-up game.
I enjoyed playing, and I've got a full and happy life now, so it's not like I'm looking back longingly at my time in football.
I walked away from pro football and a $2.9 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers because I didn't want to develop CTE.
Dehumanizing sounds so extreme, but when you're fighting for a football at the bottom of the pile, it is kind of dehumanizing.
I just want to live a long healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise.
In places where people read hardcover books and eat sushi, they're not signing a five-year-old up to tackle another five-year-old.
If I was a marginal guy or a practice squad player or a career-long special teamer, you take a hell of a lot less hits in those roles.
I think, in the eyes of a lot of circles, especially within football, I'm the soft guy. But I'm fine with being the soft, healthy guy.
The idea that just the basis of the game, repetitive hits, could bring on a cascade of issues later in life, that was - it changed the game for me.
A generation of men really built the NFL and gave guys like me a shot, and a lot of these guys are left out in the cold by the league and forgotten.
I couldn't really justify playing for money, and I think what I wanted to achieve put me at too great a risk, so I just decided on another profession.
I guess I compete in everything I do, but it's always good to get out and be active and find an outlet for all of that pent-up aggression you had as an athlete.
I just thought to myself, 'What am I doing? Is this how I'm going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I've learned and know about the dangers?'
During the course of a 16-game season, everybody, in the end, is injured. It's almost as if pieces just get broken off, and you give up pieces or an appendage every year.
I think I'm connected to this issue in some capacity, football and brain damage. So carving out a way to address it tactfully is important to me no matter what I go on to do.
The 49ers drafted me assuming I wanted to play more than one year. At the time, I did, too. Things changed. They didn't deserve to be undercut. And I didn't want that to happen.
The act of riding a bicycle isn't causing brain trauma. Yeah, you could fall, but that's if something goes wrong. Everything could go right in football, and it's still dangerous.
Obviously, not the biggest guy in stature. Straight-line speed wasn't my forte either. But I play very fast because I know the game. I take proper angles and know all my assignments.
The host of 'Face The Nation,' Bob Schieffer, was an important figure in my childhood years. Every Sunday in the fall, he occupied my family's time after church and before the NFL pregame shows.
About 10 percent of the time, I miss 3 to 5 percent of the game. I look back, and I'm happy that I played. I'm not wistful. You miss big games. I miss the locker room camaraderie. Sometimes I miss the lifestyle.
Obviously, football and soccer seem to clash a lot, but soccer was great for me. It's a game that you play with triangles. You make a pass thinking that the person you pass the ball to is going to make the next pass.
My experience over my five years at Wisconsin and my one year in the NFL was that there were times where I couldn't play the game safely. There are positive measures we can take... but on a lead play, on a power play, there's violence.
I think flag football is a great alternative, and it's a great game in its own right. It's a wonderful alternative. You can develop all of the skills and athleticism and glean the lessons you can from contact football through playing flag.
One healthy thing I'd like for players to know, whether they're active or former, is you likely can't replicate the thrill of playing before 100,000 people and big hits and making that much money. We can get ourselves into trouble trying to.
I never thought my choice to leave the NFL would lead to 'Face the Nation.' When I first thought of quitting, I cringed at the notion of becoming a football safety advocate. I was making a personal decision; I never set out to influence others.
I can't predict the future of football. I don't think it'll go the way of boxing because it's a team sport. It's built into our education systems, the flagship for a lot of universities' fundraising campaigns. So no, I don't think it'll go away.
The men and women that are hired to take care of players' health, their salaries are paid by the team. Before games, you would see team docs and trainers, and they're every bit as as excited to, say, beat the Raiders as you are; their emotions are tied up in it.
The reality is that it's just the nature of the game. It's the nature of playing offensive line, defensive line, and linebackers, where your responsibilities as a player involve those little hits that are going to accumulate. You can't take that out of the game.