We looked at each other standing on the podium, and I think we all were tearing up. But we had to keep it cool. I think we did. Then we let out a breath.
'Through the times I've gone through the last couple of weeks - and I'm still trying to help a friend - I got attacked pretty hard through the media, and it hurt and it was devastating, but I really found out who was with me and who was there for me.
You made it something special. Most of all, I want to thank the fans for your support not through the great times that we shared on the football field, but for the last 17 years of my life. You have supported me through all times.
The whole thing means such a great deal for me, and hopefully one day it will be there. But my friends and my family mean a little more. I would rather be helping them, even if it hurts that.
I know the type of demons they have to fight and I am going to help them, because it's the only way I can keep them from getting to my family. I have to clean up my friends because they are around my boys. It's upsetting.
My favorite day was Monday, September the 25th, 2006. New Orleans, Louisiana, site of the Superdome. I watched our people who had suffered so grievously through Hurricane Katrina fill a stadium hours before a game and stay hours after the game.
I can't write my life story without Emmitt and Troy. They can't write their life stories without me. We're tied together forever. This is a day to remember for the rest of our lives.
I didn't always know, but I always wanted to. I always wanted to be the very best receiver the Cowboys ever had. That was my goal coming in as a rookie and my goal throughout my career: being the best they ever had, going up in the Ring of Honor.
The movie, 'Remember the Titans,' is my favorite movie, staring Denzel Washington. I love the way in this movie the game of football brings those boys together, it unites those boys on that football field. It unites a whole town, black, white, old, young, rich and poor.
