Before, I was more concerned with getting on the radio, like many young artists.

When I was playing for tips in college, I felt a fire in my soul. I had the same principle of focus that I had learned playing football.

I can't see going onstage wearing a long-sleeve shirt in the dead of summer. I work out hard during the day with a trainer who monitors everything I put in my mouth when I'm on tour. When I first got a record deal, you can tell by my early album covers that working out wasn't that much a part of my life.

There are only so many hours you can sit on the bus and watch TV or play basketball or whatever we do to pass the time before we go out onstage.

I can't believe that I get to stand on the stages I stand on every summer, and get to sing the songs that I sing.

I have never said a negative thing about anybody, even when the whole world was saying I was gay because Renée Zellweger cited fraud.

I love being able to say a quick thanks to the man above for the music and the fact that we're even in this spot. If you'd told me this in college when I was sitting on a stool and playing for enchiladas and tips, I'd have bet everything against it.