“As you know, New Mexico is not known for football. I was kind of overlooked.”

“I love football in the rain. That is what it’s all about.”

“I know what being a star athlete means. But this is different. I can’t say I wasn’t warned, that Chicago would take to me. It’s the blue collar thing.”

“My mom is my heart. But my [step]dad was my role model, the hardest working man I ever knew.”

“I’m uncomfortable doing commercials.”

“You can’t take a second off. I have to keep proving myself every Sunday.”

“How great a life is this? To get to knock guys’ heads off for 60 minutes and not get thrown in jail?”

“They’ve had some great ones here—Butkus, Singletary and Bill George—but I’m not trying to be like them. I’m just trying to be me.”

“You’ve got to be a little nasty out there. But most of the time, I’m having fun.”

“I think it’s the best position in football. You’re right in the middle of it all. Everything comes to you.”

“I see things as they happen pretty quick, and I just go hit it.”

“You want to be the best at your position. And if people think of me as one of the best ever, that’s the ultimate compliment.”

“I like to think of myself as a regular guy, except I play football for a living. I try not to be an arrogant turd out there.”

"I lead by example. But if I get pissed enough, I'll say something. It usually isn't rah-rah; it's more complaining."

"All I can do is go out there and play hard and try and help my team win, and that’s what I’m going to keep doing."

"If you play angry, you lose what you’re supposed to do. On defense we just read our keys and play fast."

"People don’t think I’m big enough to be mean. I don’t look big enough, but I am."

"From the highlights I’ve seen, Butkus was a violent dude in a violent era. You could clothesline then, you could head-slap then. He was mean—he could do anything he wanted to back then. We get penalized now if we graze the quarterback’s helmet. We get fined if we hit the quarterback the wrong way."

"I want to be remembered as a championship football player."

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