“As I look back on it, I know our season ended the day J.V. died because I know none of us got over it. You just lose focus. All of a sudden you find out in some ways how childish you've been in the way you've devoted your whole life to this game. Then all of a sudden it hits you that there are bigger things in play.”
“I thought to myself at least a couple of times after a hit, 'Boy, that's going to leave a mark. I'm going to pay for that some day down the road.' We didn't talk about spinal compression. I'm sure I lost at least 2 inches in height in my career. I'm barely hanging onto 6-2 now.”
“Everything else is sacrificed to that end, ... But all of a sudden something like that happens, and if you have any air of intelligence, you've been shaken down to the very core of yourself. I know that happened to me; I don't know that I was ever the same after that. After that, a lot of things became clear to me outside of football. ... You have an aura of invincibility when you're a great athlete, and all of a sudden, wow ... there's a wakeup call that your aura is a fantasy.”
“Everything else is sacrificed to that end. But all of a sudden something like that happens, and if you have any air of intelligence, you've been shaken down to the very core of yourself. I know that happened to me; I don't know that I was ever the same after that. After that, a lot of things became clear to me outside of football. ... You have an aura of invincibility when you're a great athlete, and all of a sudden, wow ... there's a wakeup call that your aura is a fantasy.”
“We wanted someone who was a real industry insider, someone who could hit the ground running without a long ramp-up time. I think you'll find this is big news in the industry because she's popular and well-known.”
