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I think one thing I had going for me that a lot of rookies didn't is that we played 15, 16 games every year in college.

Some of the money going to the rookies can now be spent on people who have proved their worth. After all, the average playing life of a pro football player is about eight years and it is only fitting that the veterans get something for their efforts.

The 50 greatest players don't matter when you're in the Hall of Fame. We all know that I was not one of the 50 greatest, I was one of the 25 greatest - in my mind.

I think any player at any position their rookie year, they're trying to figure out how to process all the information we give them, how to process what the defense is doing and then actually physically play the game and the position that they're playing.

Rookies are also coming in from college programs as big stars, whereas when we came in, we were just happy to be there. We were happy to be playing in a big gym, to be on television, to be playing in America.

We have a lot of rookies in the lineup. More than anybody, I would say. Its going to be something new for them. They have to understand that it's totally different hockey in the playoffs. Starting with the fans, the intensity of the game, every mistake counts.

My rookie year was huge for me as far as the learning curve, especially those last three games.

I thought the Hall of Fame was for superstars, not just average players like me.

Sometimes you surf well and still don't win. It happens to everyone. You learn that one big score doesn't mean much if you don't have a backup. I guess every rookie learns that as time goes by. I took some big lessons from my losses.