I promise you that during my life, I was more concerned about not letting people down, about doing my part, than I was ever into what it did for me. That is one of the great things about sports, and frankly, football really does instill that.

We've all got to get on the same page.

You talk about the [armed] service teaches you how to depend on each other, the service makes you aware of the common good and strips that down. Guys who go into service get to have that. But that's a high price to pay in this day and time with going into service.

There's no question that the striving, the stuff that you got out of [sports]. The depending on someone right beside you. Sitting here and calling on yourself when you're tired or getting through something painful, watching your teammates do the same. Everybody feels good when you first walk out there.

The NFL is in premium interest time, in the fourth quarter [of the business year] when you have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and that's when we try to get the most decision-makers in front of the television, in the fourth quarter.

The part of football you don't see with all the buddies I ever had, we might have gone out and thrown some passes, but we never went out to knock the hell out of each other just to do it. You do that when the time comes to push the ball downfield or keep it from going down the field. That's why I think football has a great place.

Anybody involved in sports in Missouri knows it's a great sports state. It is a great sports state, particularly in basketball and baseball. Particularly. Not to demean football, but it's a baseball state and a basketball state.