“[Chad Pennington] took me under his wing and taught me the do’s and don’ts. It was the whole package, on the field and off the field. It was great to see a guy who took the game so seriously and to learn from him.’’

“I read too many childhood stories about athletes where they grew up in the inner city and went through this or that. Too many people use what they went through. I am not saying it was easy on me. Not that many places are worse than the inner city of Washington D.C., but it’s not about that. I learned right from wrong and knew which way to go.’’

”I am not a tough guy. I don’t want to be a superhero. I deal with pain the best I can and, if I am capable of helping my team, I will always do that. We’ll worry about the pain after the game.’’

”I am a big guy. I’ve always been a big guy, but I’ve never not been in shape. I Guarantee you that. How many 6-6 football players are 220? I don’t worry about it. Everyone in the locker room knows I am in shape.’’

”My throwing motion is going to be my throwing motion. My throwing motion will not change. When you go out there, you believe you are the baddest son of a gun on the planet.’’

”My expectations for myself are higher than anything others put on me. Nobody on this team allows outsiders to put pressure on us that we don’t already put on ourselves and that includes me.’’

”I would rather be judged by wins and postseason performance because that is all that really matters. A lot of people like stats. I like wins.’’

”Would I like to throw it as much as Peyton [Manning]? C’mon, man, show me a quarterback who wouldn’t. That’s not going to happen here, and I am fine with that. There is more than enough for me in this offense, more than enough.’’

”They call me slow, but there are at least 15 quarterbacks I am faster than. You hear it so much it doesn’t bother you. It would be me if I was out there struggling, but I led the team to 12-4 and the playoffs last year.’’

© Copyright 2006 Black Book Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.