I remember when I was 6 years old and my brother used to go seek out guys that were 13 to come over and play football against me while he was the 'permanent quarterback.' I didn't know exactly what the age difference was, but I was already playing against older guys.
I've tried to bring the mentality of the outside linebacker to the inside and the rough, tough style of an inside linebacker to the outside. The middle linebacker always has been known as kind of a big plugger. Outside guys are known to be able to run. I just try to make big plays wherever I am.
Playing football and rugby is the Samoan sport. It's part of the conversation at church. It's part of the conversation in their barbershops, in the grocery stores. It's what everyone is aware of and familiar with. They take a lot of pride in the beating you can take in the course of that sport.
A lot of children can go back and look at their childhood and find reasons why it wasn't perfect. But why whine about something no one can fix? You deal with it.
As a sophomore, I wanted to play varsity in three sports. And I accomplished that. It was a great feat that year, and something I held special. I wanted to bring a championship team to Oceanside High School, and it happened. It was a great year that I will never forget.
Being a part of the National Football League for so long, I've come across so many trainers and equipment managers who've allowed me to be who I am today.
For dinner I want real sushi - not the Americanized kind. My parents are American Samoan so I don't go for any of those rolls. I'll have raw prawn or sea urchin or octopus. I love it.
Ryan Leaf is doing great now. If he progresses the way he is now, we're going to have a quarterback that's going to be reckoned with in the near future. And that's not political.
Too many athletes are living in a tiny window. They have no vision for themselves - what they can be outside of football and what they can mean to a community. They just don't know any better. My hopes and dreams are unlimited.
In order to gain the respect of your players in the locker room, you can't just perform on Saturday. You have to do it consistently during practices, meetings, and in the weight room.
To chase an athlete that really doesn't want to speak with you and when you finally get him, gives you three words and you have to write a story based on three words of information he gave you, that's pretty tough.
You can't live on last year, you can't live on the year before. I can't bring in my 13 Pro Bowls in the locker room and say, look at me. No. That is gone. That is the best thing about the game of football is that everybody starts over.
