I've wanted to hit Jay Cutler so hard for so long that this move just makes sense.

I want to maximize my potential as a player. I want to be as good as I could possibly be. And if I do that, I think I could be one of the best players out there.

I want to be my own player. I want to be Julius Peppers. I don't want to be the next Lawrence Taylor. I don't want to have to live with his legacy.

As a kid, I never thought I saw myself as unusual. I always thought that lots of people could do what I did. More and more I realized I was wrong.

I'm out to prove something-that I'm all for real and that I can do it on my own without any help.

How can you say you want to be somewhere when you're not really sure if they want you there because they're not even talking to you?

It's not important for me to be a star, but it is important for me to be one of the better players. I won't feel comfortable with not living up to my potential. I don't want to be spoken of as the player who had potential who never reached it, so I am going to work extra hard to try to be the best I can be.