The whole concept of negotiating is intimidating to many people.

It is soooooo necessary to get the basic skills, because by the time you graduate, undergraduate or graduate, that field would have totally changed from your first day of school.

I love the values football can teach. It gives young people a sense of how to defer present gratification for future success, it teaches self-discipline, it teaches teamwork, it gives them a bonding experience that can be hard to find somewhere else, it teaches the ability to process large amounts of information and apply it in real time.

Challenge yourself, its fine not to be a totally finished person.

Forty years ago the chances of journalists reporting - or the authorities even prosecuting - a pro athlete were practically nil.

I'd like to add that negotiating is not something to be avoided or feared - it's an everyday part of life.

Now we're getting a whole generation of kids who have never had a football team in L.A., so they don't miss it and don't ask for it. It becomes self-perpetuating. They don't know what they're missing.