Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I am a gamer. I became a gamer since I had kids... much more than I used to be when I'd play 'Madden' and 'NCAA Football' in high school and college.
I've seen the negative impact social media can have, particularly on younger players, who grew up with Twitter and Instagram as an integral part of life.
When I've had injuries where there's nothing structurally wrong and I know it's just about gutting through? I have the ability to say, 'Get better. I'm good.'
As a kid, you just want to play football. For me one day it will end, but until the end I love getting the opportunity to go out there and play at a high level.
Fortunately for me, my grandfather gave us a life I could never dream of. He was my high school football coach, my best friend, my school teacher - really my dad.
I think you've got to have an unbelievable amount of passion and love for the game, even though it's a job and there's a lot of things that go on in the business side of it.
You just constantly are evaluating and learning and drawing players and coverages and talking through it. It's part of making you the player, how you want to approach the game.
Since I was 15 or 16 years old, my grandfather was my high school football coach and my life's been ball. Dinners we're talking about ball and college we're talking about ball.
My job is to be able to perform for three hours or three and a half hours every Sunday and I've got to work my tail off to get to the point where I can do it, and that's what motivates me.
I always say that I continue to set the standard really high for myself, but you don't get into a catch count or any of that stuff. I think it's just in how you play, how you approach the game.
I have a lot of respect for every opponent. I don't know if there's just one who I say, 'that guy intimidates me.' When I was young and first came into the league, Ray Lewis was that guy. I was young.
There's an old saying in football - the circus doesn't stay in town forever. The older you get, the more you realize there's a deeper meaning. It's better to leave 3 hours too soon than a minute too late.
So much is made of catches and doing all of that. But inside a team, the things you remember are the moments when nobody thinks you can do it and you try to rally your team and try to add some inspiration for them.
I think Tony Gonzalez always set the standard. He was the guy that, I think for all of us, when I came in that was really kinda taking this league over as the tight end position. I think Shannon Sharpe was another one.
I work hard every day not only to be a success on the football field and a credit to my team - but to be a good husband, father, son, grandson, teammate - to be the kind of man that is as respected as Walter Payton was.
Those heartaches, those cries in your life that you go through, I thought that every kid goes through them. I knew I didn't have much, but I didn't know there was another side out there. I thought one present for Christmas was the way it is.
My career has been defined, in a good way, on the option route. And a lot of times, it's a bang-bang play. It's a great play because it can convert first downs. But at the same time, you don't get a lot of those opportunities in the open field.
I have 16 years in Dallas. I would love finish it off there. But I also understand and am not naive enough to think that... it may need to be somewhere else. I think that's how this business works. So you have to be open to that idea, for sure.
From minute one, I thought that after I called a game, I said 'Man, I thought I would enjoy calling a game a little more than I probably did.' I thought I would enjoy that part of it. I didn't have the fulfillment that I thought I probably would.
When you call a game, it's almost like you're doing a three-hour movie and the production of it all, living in the moment in real time, the replays, all the intricacies that go into putting a game in a broadcast. It's not just 100 percent football.
The things I learned early on from my granddad, the things he instilled in me, are still to this day a huge part and a huge priority of my own life. Even the little stuff like my granddad always telling me to tuck in my shirt at church. It sticks with you.
Ideally, if you ask most tight ends, they would say we want the defender on us early. The reason for that is we feel like, for one, we know where we're going. Two, we can attack leverage, it declares itself if it's truly man coverage. We can work the release.
You want to be able to run seam routes and do all that, but to have something that you can hang your hat on and know that it's going to convert first downs, that's what tight ends are paid to do. And I've certainly taken a lot of pride in that over the years.
If you're in the NFL for more than five minutes you see that you can be here today and gone tomorrow. That's why I played the way I did. I think that's why I worked hard to not miss a game, fight through injuries and all that stuff because when it's gone, it's gone.
He could rush the passer, he could bull you, he could beat you speed inside and quickness. Those are long days when you had Michael Strahan lining up right over your head for 60 minutes, because most defensive ends are good at one or the other. Michael was really good at both.
The mental focus it takes to compete against the best players in the world is not easy to maintain. Developing mental toughness is a learned trait, and if you can't develop it in your pursuit of success, you likely won't last in any competitive line of work for more than a cup of coffee.
My brother one time after a little league basketball game, I think he messed up or something had happened in the game, ends up getting in an argument with my dad. Ultimately he gets pushed down and he ends up cutting the back of his head. He had six or seven stitches over a 10-year-old basketball game. That was tough to watch.
A player checking Twitter at halftime? I've seen it. A player tweeting out a grievance with an organization about playing time or how he is being utilized? I see it far too often. But the most concerning? Watching a really talented player corrupt his mind and confidence by reading all the critiques from anonymous football experts around the world.