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In the NFL, you have a short shelf life. As a running back, if you're the first pick, and you're NFL life expectancy is only 3.5-6 years, your first big contract might not come until three years in - well, you might never get there. They need to get those signing bonuses up front because nothing is guaranteed.
This is one of the last unique things to do in the business of sports, to return the National Football League to the city of Los Angeles. I happen to love the city of Los Angeles; I happen to love the NFL - and to somehow be a part of that, a helper in that process, is something I've always been interested in.
Being under-recruited coming out of Highland, I've carried that with me. I keep pushing forward, keep working hard every day, keep my head on straight every step of the way. I tried to keep the reality hat on, knowing I might not get to the NFL, but I also knew it was a great possibility if I kept myself hungry.
The scoreboard can't make you a loser. If you walk off the field with your head up, you don't lose. You don't hang your head for nobody. People in the stands think you're the greatest or the worst - their opinion doesn't make a difference. The only opinion that makes any difference is your own opinion of yourself.
I can look back at it now as definitely like an initiation into adulthood. Almost overnight in the NFL, I was put on a pedestal and I was supposed to be this icon or this image of what a professional athlete was supposed to be. I felt like I just got stuck trying to be someone else and I forgot who I actually was.
I've just been training and working on my speed. I want to be faster, Everyone knows that the more speed you have the more of a threat you can be in the NFL. For me I have been working on my speed and being more explosive. Everyone knows I can get the 10- or 15-yard runs, but I want to have the 60- and 70-yard runs.
Fraud is common when you give away billions. Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, 'Girls Gone Wild' videos, and at least one sex change operation.
I'm a big believer in the student-athlete part. I value the education and what it provides for you. Football is a vocation. Only 1.67 percent of these athletes go on to the NFL. An education provides you an opportunity for a career. A lot of people just don't get that. To say they aren't getting anything is misinformed.
College lacrosse can be pretty brutal at times, so that definitely helped me with the toughness. It's a fast-paced game, so that helped me kind of translate over to the game speed of playing in the NFL. I think just the one-on-one aspect of trying to beat the guy in front of you definitely helped me as being a receiver.
If the NFL can keep getting away with forcing players to wait three years out of high school before they're drafted - three! - the NCAA should be made to do away with its rules against paying players beyond room, board and tuition. I'm not talking about some token, $2,000-a-year 'spending money' stipend for every player.
Guys have been having a lot of questions about whether or not I can play man-to-man, so I've been watching a lot of film lately. I'm trying to study tendencies of receivers that are already in the NFL, so I can have a jump on them once I get to that next level l so I can know what to look for and what to be prepared for.
I'm not going to be depressed about my career however it ends because I've met great people, I've played with great teammates, I've played for great coaches, and I've lived out a lifelong dream. But it wasn't just about a dream of playing in the NFL. It was about a dream of playing in the NFL and winning Super Bowl rings.
When my TV show, 'Sports Jobs with Junior Seau,' assigned me to be a 'Sports Illustrated' reporter for a weekend, I didn't realize I'd have to squeeze it in around another sports job. I had planned to retire from the NFL to enjoy the cushy lifestyle of a full-time reality TV star, but I wound up getting run over by a bull.
The NFL is the only sport where you can be on a team five years, and your contract's not guaranteed. You can go through the whole process of training camp, and then as soon as it's the season, it's a week-to-week job, and they can cut you at any moment, or you can get hurt at any moment. It's not like that in other sports.
People assume NFL cheerleaders are within some vague sniffing distance of the good life, but a Ben-Gal is paid seventy-five bucks per game. That is correct: seventy-five bucks for each of ten home games. The grand cash total per season does not keep most of them flush in hair spray, let alone gas money to and from practice.
As a former NFL player, I am one American who will have nothing to do with any NFL Team that cannot find the corporate courage to stand for the millions of courageous past great Americans whose sacrifice gave meaning to our flag and national anthem and to the millions upon millions who still dream to come to its free shores.
I look at the NFL and see how the transition has gone at quarterback. I might be coming along at a good time. For me personally, this is about doing the same thing I've been doing at USF - just smile, have fun, enjoy the experience, keep a positive attitude and encourage my teammates. I like to feed off the people around me.
So to me, life is more than just money and making it to the NFL. Life's about memories, life is about experiences, and I feel like when players just plug in for three years and run to the NFL as quickly as they can, I feel like they're, without knowing it until they get older, taking themselves away from a really good memory.
If you ever are fortunate enough to experience an open field in front of you as a tight end - and honestly, that's something not many guys at this position ever get to experience in the NFL - the one thing that you know for certain is that there are people faster than you who are right behind you and want you to fumble the ball.
I would welcome sitting for a year. Being able to experience what the NFL is like, settling into a new city. You get a house situated, there's marketing, there's stuff going on you're not used to. Being able to have a year to learn the offense, learn the speed of the game, and coming out in Year 2, you could focus all on football.
There's always going to be a lot of distractions in the NFL - that's just how it is; it's on the biggest stage - but really focusing on what I have to do now to help my team win, help me be at my best physically when I'm out there on the field and mentally, because that will ultimately help my team no matter what role I'm playing.
I'm in the NFL now, and it's nothing like what we did at USC. Not at all. The only difference between my college and other colleges is the games we won and the attention we got because of it. Obviously being in Los Angeles plays a huge role in the publicity. We don't have a football team in L.A., so we kind of are like the pro team.
Once upon a time, kickers actually were players. Lou 'The Toe' Groza started at left tackle and played some defensive line while turning into the first straight-on place-kicking star, for the Cleveland Browns. Quarterback George Blanda led the NFL in completions once and the AFL three times while kicking field goals and extra points.
My biggest advice to an official who wants to pursue college or come into the NFL is to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. If you're coming in just because you want to be the female in the NFL, then I think you're doing it for the wrong reasons. If you're doing it because you want to be the best official, then pursue it.
There are a handful of guys that are really good at what they're doing from the receiver position, which is the easiest position in the NFL. There are a handful of guys that are good at it. There's not one particular guy that would concern me when I'm going into a game, but there are guys that you have to take notice of in the league.
If I was involved with the NFL, I'd seriously consider adopting some of the rules used in Canada. I've heard, unofficially, of course, some NFL club owners have talked about adding a feature or two. The NFL went for the two-point conversion. Professional sport is entertainment, and the CFL, I believe, is ahead of the NFL in that regard.
He’s totally different from the typical jock. He has no ego. That’s unique for someone with such accolades. His strength comes from a higher power. You can’t explain Steve Largent by computer – he doesn’t belong on an NFL field. You put his size and speed in an IBM computer up in Silicon Valley, it would chew up his data card and laugh.
I have had strangers come up to me and attempt to mimic the Chinese language in a derogatory manner. I have been told countless times that I speak 'good' English. I have been asked why someone like me would be interested in watching NFL football. On any given day, if I walk around with a camera, I will be mistaken for a tourist from Asia.
Our president needs to focus on other countries - North Korea, Russia, and everything else that's going on everywhere else. I promote it; I like Donald Trump. I get sometimes what he says, and sometimes he needs to quit on Twitter. He needs to get off of it and focus on what's going on everywhere else instead of what's going on in the NFL.
When I was on the practice squad, it felt like I was just a guy who came in off the street three days a week to help actual NFL players get better. It was unsettling, unfulfilling and there were a few times when I wondered whether I would get my shot. But I kept showing up and kept competing. I was too stubborn to stop believing in myself.
Getting 1,000 yards in the NFL is an amazing accomplishment, and being the first rookie ever for the Giants to do that is even a bigger one. It's big because even though my name might go in the record book, it's not just myself - it's the offensive line play and the guys in the running back room, all those guys have been a tremendous help.
You don't really see tight ends out here doing dances in the end zone. But if you see me at night out on the town, I'm having a good time - I'm always dancing. It started in the backyard, not to necessarily showboat - but to be a showman. It's part of how we grew up, how we played the game, and now that I'm in the NFL, why not break it out?
I think you realize the opportunities that we have and how special it is, that my kids are going to get to grow up being in an NFL locker room, kind of running around. I'm not trying to take any of this for granted because not many people get this opportunity. It's kind of cool that my boys are going to get the opportunity to be around this.
There are guys who have no business being in school, but they're here because this is the path to the NFL. There's no other way. Then there's the other side that says raise the SAT eligibility requirements. OK, raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have. You lose athletes, and then the product on the field suffers.
Marathon running, like golf, is a game for players, not winners. That is why Callaway sells golf clubs and Nike sells running shoes. But running is unique in that the world's best racers are on the same course, at the same time, as amateurs, who have as much chance of winning as your average weekend warrior would scoring a touchdown in the NFL.
When the passer's back foot hit the ground on his setup, I wanted the ball gone. If no one was open, if he had to buy time, I wanted him to bounce in place. And then I only wanted him scrambling as a last resort. When you bounce, you maintain your balance. When you start moving, you create an unnatural position for yourself. I want everything to be natural.
To be able to have that self-respect for yourself and just that feeling of, OK, I did what I could, just stay true to yourself.If you feel that this is something that's valid and you should go out there and win, then push through it no matter what the outcome is. Just know that nine times out of 10 that no matter whether you were right or you were wrong, the NFL is a business.
You don't realize how long that NFL season is. It's a long season, especially in your first year. Not only do you spend a lot of time preparing for the draft and working out, but they you have OTAs, minicamps, training camp, preseason games. By the time you get to week six you've already had one of the longest years of your football life and you still have 11 weeks to go, plus the playoffs.
He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer. I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away.
I'm doing the exact same thing and adding a little bit more flexibility. I'm going to bench here. I'm not a kicker who's just going to hang out at practice. I'm going to be in the weight room pushing linebackers, defensive ends, tight ends. I'm going to push everyone. whatever I'm doing, I'm putting up numbers that someone else would do. Not only do I love working out, but at the same time it's able for others to maximize their potential.
There's things Calvin Johnson does that nobody else can do. He's obviously huge, his physical attributes outweigh just about everyone in the league. But on top of that, he still has the ability to learn. He's like a sponge and soaks up anything that can help him as an athlete, as a person. On top of that, he's not soft. He catches the ball and tries to get upfield to score. He doesn't slide or go out of bounds. That's a rare find in the NFL.
After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been written and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been placed on the dresser and all the pomp and fanfare has faded, the enduring things that are left are: the dedication to excellence, the dedication to victory, and the dedication to doing with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.
