It was about being wanted, it was about winning, and it was about my passion for the game. I just loved it. I absolutely loved to compete and to step out onto that football field with my teammates.

Basketball players want contact to get a foul called. Slaps on the wrist and bumps on the shoulder are big time to them, and they don't like that. In football, you get that all the time. The whole mental makeup is different.

Even though my mother had told me growing up that, 'If you win, nobody cares what color you are,' that wasn't necessarily true in the N.F.L.

Kids tend to look up to sports figures and entertainers, probably more than they should, but I've tried to use that in a positive way.

It was about being wanted, it was about winning, and it was about my passion for the game. I just loved it. I absolutely loved to compete and to step out onto that football field with my teammates.

Sportsmanship is making sure you have respect for the guy you're playing across from.

In football, it's the ultimate team sport. You have to have good people around you as a quarterback for things to happen.