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Football comes naturally to me, but basketball is a challenge, that's why I like it so much.
There's a lot of growing you can have when you're in adversity, when you're in a losing situation.
I don't eat a lot of fast food and I stay stay away from fried foods. I don't eat much meat either.
You can't expect to be better than everybody else if you're doing the same thing as everybody else.
I'm hungry. I want the ball. That's the feeling you want. When you get that feeling, you can't be stopped.
I could have played in the NBA. I would have put up 1,000 jump shots a day. I've got that type of work ethic.
You should really cast a big net when it comes to life and learning. In the end, you're so much better for it.
I'm so proud to have been a part of the Chiefs for 12 seasons and will always feel like a part of their family.
Game after game, year after year, you never stop thinking about the balls you get your hands on and don't catch.
When you find yourself in those situations where you have to take action in a crucial situation, you just do it.
Whether it's in the weight room or extra stretching, you never know when you're going to need that little extra oomph.
I love a sleep mask, havin' total darkness is essential for good sleep, you know, cuttin' that light out of your eyes.
My mom and stepdad had such open hearts, they taught me to like bringing people into my home. I'm not guarded about it.
Given a full summer to practice basketball, and especially my jump shot, I know that I could play in the NBA and do well.
What's more important than your nutrition? What's more important than workin' out? It begins with gettin' a good night's sleep.
I've come to realize that the thing in life that's important, the reason we're all here, is to love and do well for each other.
I don't care if it's politics, religion or football. I believe you have to keep opening your mind. And shut your mouth sometimes!
I was awful at football when I was a little kid. I didn't have the aggressiveness. I was just a nice kid. I didn't want to hurt anyone.
I love football. The games are a pure rush. By the time I'm done playing, I want to be among the best tight ends ever to play the game.
I always wanted to play in the Super Bowl. That never happened. It hurts. I'm not going to lie about it. It's reality. You deal with it.
When I came into the league trying to party and having too much of a good time, I found out the hard way how it affected my performance.
When I was younger, let's face it, Latinos in the league were almost always kickers. But Anthony Munoz was definitely a guy I looked up to.
My career, it's turned out to be something more than I ever thought and more than I ever dreamed. It's been an unbelievable ride. It's amazing.
Don't tell me that the rules prohibit you from hitting a guy up top. You have a whole target area above his knee up to his neck that you can hit.
I love Oprah, she's my hero in terms of a lot of things - what's not to love about Oprah? When I look at Oprah, I see all heart. She's wide open.
I've always wanted a ring. That's been my main goal as a player over the last 15 years of my career. You're really trying to get that ultimate goal.
Of course I want to win a Super Bowl, but at the same time I'm very happy with what I've accomplished and the relationships I've made over the years.
I've seen guys retire and then say they don't feel their career was complete without a Super Bowl. They play that woulda-coulda game in their heads. Not me.
For me, I'm really tired of living and dying with the game. Every game. I've tried to turn it off. I'm still trying. I can't. It sucks. Believe me, it sucks.
I've been on some really good teams, but we weren't able to get over the hump. It's offense, defense and special teams, and then the ball has to go your way.
Our goal isn't to go undefeated. Like, 'Hey, we're going to have an undefeated season.' Our goal is to win every game we're playing. And there's a difference.
I read all these books about excellence, and then I went into spirituality, and all these books were really about leveling up. Being the best version of yourself.
The Pro Bowl is an honor, and I don't know why so many people skip it. I skipped it one time because I played the week before, but I always wanted to be out there.
When you go through those hard times, that's when you ask those questions that normally you wouldn't. If you win, you don't ask questions. You don't worry about it.
When I go down to Mexico now, it's not quite like I'm in Kansas City, but maybe it's like when I'm in Atlanta the way I get recognized. That gives me a lot of pride.
I think when you give, that's probably the highest form of living. It's better than almost any feeling you could think of. It's way better than scoring touchdowns to me.
It's great because growing up, especially being a Raiders fan and then playing with Marcus, I was like, 'Holy smokes, that's Marcus Allen' when I first walked in and saw him.
There were guys from different parts of the country, and absolutely I heard, 'Why are you playing football?' You just didn't see a Gonzalez out there or any kind of Latin name.
When I first started playing in a youth football league, I was the worst kid on the team. I quit the first year. And then the next year, I was still the worst kid - I didn't even play.
I usually wake up around 7:30 A.M. without an alarm clock. I wake up naturally because I'm huge on sleep. I believe it's the No. 1 thing you can do if you're trying to create a better life.
When I first came into the league, we went 13-3 with a first-round bye, and I said, 'OK, this is how the NFL goes. This is cake. I'll have a Super Bowl trip every couple of years.' That's what I thought.
Here's what I always tell people: It's a mentality that you have to have in the NFL. It isn't about if you have the athleticism. When they bring you in, you've already shown what you can do athletically.
It didn't seem fair that no matter how many passes I caught or how many touchdowns I scored, I was considered a 'lowly tight end' and would never be paid anywhere close to a salary as high as the elite wide receivers.
I remember in my second year in the league, I dropped 17 balls and led the NFL in dropped passes. That made me the player I am. If I didn't go through that transformative power of crisis, none of this would've probably happened for me.
I think consistency, that's one thing that I look back over my career. You could count on me catching around 80 balls a year or whatever, almost eight, nine touchdowns. And I only missed two games out of 17 years, I'm pretty proud of that, too.
Tight end is one of the hardest positions to play in football. It's right up there with quarterback and cornerback. You have to have the skills of a wide receiver and the strength of an offensive lineman, and it's not easy to balance those two.
Dealing with bullies when I was in sixth and seventh grade has made me a better football player, believe it or not. You have to come to a point when you're like, 'I've had enough, and I'm not going to be kicked around and pushed around anymore.'
When I got to the NFL, they asked me what number I wanted, and I said No. 44, but they told me tight ends are not allowed to have that number. So I said, 'Just double it up for me if you can' and took No. 88. I figured I'd be twice as good as I was.
I miss the fears. I miss that. I miss going over the middle and not knowing if I'm going to make that play. I think that's the part of the game you miss the most, that excitement of it. Then you think of the physical part as a retired player and I'm like, 'hell no.'
I have soaked this league up for everything it's worth. I've had fun. Made some great relationships. I don't regret anything. Don't regret being in Kansas City. It's all been very good to me. So why would I take that approach? There will be no pity party thrown here.