First and foremost, you know we’re going to pressure you. Rookie, 12-year-vet, we’re coming.
When I go on the field, I’m not trying to hurt people. I just deliver messages.
Now you can’t touch them past five yards. You can’t really be as intimidating as you want to be as a safety.
If I had to pick the hardest hit I ever delivered–there are a lot of them–it would have to be Fred Lane. (1) It was a pitch-toss outside. He was trying to turn the corner. I caught him before he turned up, and it wasn’t pretty. It was one of those hits that when you hit a guy and you can’t wrap up because he goes so far away from you and goes down so fast. His feet flipped up in the air when I hit him.
I know I won’t be doing this forever, so I do keep a video.
There’s a lot of things that my wife does. I never go home and say, “Where’s my dinner?” No. I won’t even fix my lips to say that.
She’s the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. Absolutely. We met in high school. I’ve been with her since the 10th grade.
She came to Clemson with me. We got married going into my junior year. Things were so tough that she supported us in college. She quit school and was working midnight shift jobs, factory jobs, whatever she could grab hold to. My first car, she bought. She was the man of the household, as far as the money goes.
I can say this this flat out: There is no, “Wait till your father gets home.” I’ll tell you that right now. She can more than handle herself.
The best part of fatherhood is knowing you have a hand in raising two individuals to be good people in society and knowing that everything I do, they’re going to watch.
When I got to the NFL, there were so many pressures going on with family members and money and so much going on. It was a tough situation to go through. The thing that brought me out of that was my faith.
There was a point where I learned I basically had only a couple thousand dollars left in the bank. I was giving things out and not understanding the price of things up here. It was a lot of things that went on that year up here with the new baby, so many pressures. I was depressed, taking depression pills, thought about suicide almost on a daily basis.
Two of my childhood friends are dead because of the decisions they made. One I lost in the 8th grade, the other I lost as a sophomore in college. Gunshot.
I love to talk to high-school-age kids. It all boils down to choices, decisions, consequences.
He brings knowledge, first of all. (2) He knows what he’s doing. If guys buy into what he’s doing, they’ll love it.
That crowd (3) has always been crunk. Crunk means excited. Getting after you. Crunk.
He’s always joking around. (4) Even in the midst of a game and pressure situations, I can see him smiling in the huddle.
My all-time guy that I respect is Brett. (5) He’s a warrior, man.
The day of the game, my body’s preparing to play a game. My mind’s preparing to play a game. But I can’t. (6) You still have the churning of the motor, so the day of the game I’m going around cleaning up everything.
I’m not looking past no team, but the ultimate goal is to get to that game again and make that outcome different. (7)
Whatever we have to do.
(1): Former Carolina running back.
(2): Ron Rivera, Bears’ defensive coordinator who formerly coached Eagles’ linebackers.
(3): Soldier Field fans.
(4): Donovan McNabb.
(5): Favre.
(6): Because he was injured and missed nine games last season.
(7): After three straight NFC championship game losses.
