When you get released from the NFL it's not a pleasant experience and I may have sulked for about two or three years. Then I was like, 'You know what? It's time to get back on the wagon.' I have nothing to be ashamed of.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There's a big difference between where I came from and the NFL. Things like this don't happen to people from there often. It just took a lot of hard work and dedication, staying on the right path, believing in myself, and having an inner drive.
When I go back to NFL functions today, I feel a bit on the outside looking in. I played 13 years in the NFL, and I loved it - made a Pro Bowl and went to the playoffs - but I always felt like I was having to knock the door down to get in.
The football season is like pain. You forget how terrible it is until it seizes you again.
Once you become an owner of a team, you get so much more into the sport and you can't help it. So I really love NFL football now to the degree of following it much more than I did previously.
I felt the way people talked to me was like, 'It's OK to be No. 2 in the NFL, a backup,' and things like that. That's never been my approach.
I think actually it's kind of sad because something I looked forward to just getting to the NFL growing up was just being able to have more fun, the rules loosen up, being able to celebrate.
There are times when I'm watching an NFL quarterback struggling to get through the game, and I get bitter to some extent.
Obviously my last two years in the NFL were not much fun at all.
I feel so fortunate, so honored, to have played this game that I love for so long, with so many great players, and in front of so many wonderful fans. I fulfilled a childhood dream the first time I stepped on an NFL field, and the league did not let me down one time.
I had a great year and left my guts out on the field.