I take pride in my life-my wife, my family. I try my best not to have football define the person that I am.

Our sport is not made for anybody to be able to play it, especially at the NFL level, so there's obviously some risk that we all take knowingly.

Any time you can squeeze out the opportunity to get better, you should.

I love the atmosphere football brings; I love being around my teammates; I love the struggle in football. I love the fact that it is a part of my life. I don't look at it as any more important or less important as any other part of my life.

Fighters are raised into MMA. It's more about what's internal, not what's God given. When you have a great fighter like Rickson Gracie or Fedor Emelianenko-they're greater than the others because they have an internal spiritual being that separates them from the rest in their craft. They have the warrior spirit.

I've always been a very self-aware person.

I've always been fascinated by the military, the discipline they have and the sacrifices they make to defend the country. It's something I've always been interested in.