My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I seldom was ever off my seat on the bench during the game.
I think one game we played the Oakland Raiders and Jack Tatum and I had an accident on the one-yard line. The only thing that Jack Tatum didn't do was wrap me up so I backed into the endzone backwards.
I knew I could play really well in one game, score the winning goal and then, come the next game, I wouldn't play at all or I might come off the bench for the last five minutes. So I was frustrated towards the end of my time at Spurs. I wasn't happy.
The first year I started hockey, I didn't know how to skate, so I got on the ice with all of the hockey players, and we were doing drills where we had to go backwards in figure eights. And I could not skate, and I just kept falling on my butt, and it was very embarrassing.
I hated to miss games... at the height of my career, I missed a lot of games due to... just a hamstring pull. And I hated sitting out. I just hated it. You play for your team, but you also play for the people who attend the games.
I'm not making any excuses. I got my butt kicked in certain games.
In sixth grade, my basketball team made it to the league championships. In double overtime, with three seconds left, I rebounded the ball and passed it - to the wrong team! They scored at the buzzer and we lost the game. To this day, I still have nightmares!
I played without fear. I've done that since I first kicked a ball in my back garden as a five-year-old, whether it's been my first game, my 100th game, or my 500th game.
We had a day off here yesterday and I just sat in my room and played.
In college, I probably lost a total of about 11 games, and then I came to the Celtics and in my first three weeks we went on a nine-game losing streak.