We all like to hear a man speak out on his convictions and principles. But at the same time, you must understand that when you're running on a ticket, you're running with a team.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
A lot of people tell me a lot of things about my conduct, my game, my future... but I try to stay away from their words of wisdom. I don't let it distract me. On the field, you will be facing the ball alone. If you fail, you will the only one to blame. So, you should be the one deciding for yourself.
Every decision you make in life, not just on the sporting field - a lot of time and energy goes into it. You think things through before you make decisions and you always think the decision you make at the time is going to be the right one.
You know, when you run you got to be all in and you take risks of winning and losing.
At one time, we were asked to play your own man; you're responsible for your own man. And, if you were good enough and kind of a ball hawk, you helped everyone else. Now it's really much more of a team concept defensively than it was when we played.
You can live by biblical principles, and you can teach by those principles and still be a winner. So many coaches think you've got to kick your players in the rear end. You've got to cuss them out. You've got to hit them across the head. No. You don't have to do that.
In football, like in life, you must learn to play within the rules of the game.
Once you declare your loyalty to a team, every person who doesn't support that team, it's their job to ruin you, to tell you you're an idiot and to tell you that you made the wrong choice.
I hope I'm building a record of being a good team player and not just standing for my principles but being willing to work for them. I think when you do that and you work really hard, people take notice.
What really matters is who you are when you step on the field, and I will let my bat and my glove speak for themselves.
If you work with convictions, people have got to listen to you.