I Was An NFL Player Until I was Fired By Two Cowards and a Bigot.

Never be afraid to do what's right. If no one ever says anything, nothing ever changes.

Think of a single word. We'll use soul as our example. How do you define soul? Is it the same definition I use? Can it ever be it? My soul is not your soul. Our souls, our definitions, are shaped by the singular and cumulative experiences in our lives, the emotional weight we attach to a concept forever locked in the space behind our own eyes.

There's lots of people my age (and younger) that have grown up in chaotic environments and I just happen to be one of the first ones to make it to pro sports. It's more a societal thing than an athletics thing.

If you're not willing to speak out for the rights of other people, then who do you expect to speak out for you when it's your turn?

When people - everyday people who watch the coverage on CNN of Anita Sarkeesian having to cancel a speaking engagement due to death threats - think of “gamers,” they are going to think of you, and that irritates me. It enrages me. I want to punch down a wall, and I like my walls. They're nicely painted.

My numbers and my stats were exactly the same. I was doing what the coaches wanted me to do. And what I had been doing up to that point was enough to get me a very well-paying contract with the Vikings. ... In my mind there was only one thing that had changed from the year before and the year I got cut: And that was I started speaking out in support of same-sex rights.