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Being the lead of the show and working a lot of hours - all good stuff, a tremendous education, incredible opportunity, it changed my life - it was a marathon, and by the end of it I was pretty beat.

Part of my growing up was always trying to make my parents proud and always trying to keep them happy. I think part of what held them together was my involvement in sports.

Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else.

I wanted the players to feel like they were part of a family, to be conscious of that controlled togetherness as they made that slow entrance onto the field. It had a great psychological effect on the opposing team, too. They'd never seen anything like it.

It was about being wanted, it was about winning, and it was about my passion for the game. I just loved it. I absolutely loved to compete and to step out onto that football field with my teammates.

To have gone through so much work to heal myself and have my mother not acknowledge in any way that she was sorry for what had happened to me, broke my heart.

To have my mind racing and my heart beating fast over glorious possibilities is very close to the summit of life experience for me.

It was probably right after I made my comeback - after retiring post-2008 Olympics - when I finally felt more at ease with my body. Being away from the sport helped put things in perspective.

To be among the world's greatest athletes and compete for Team U.S.A. while knowing that the entire world is watching is something that athletes dream about. To be able to experience that was truly special.