“As a kid, I played my share of football in the street or in a vacant lot.”

I’m from Kansas, so there were a lot of vacant lots and open fields to tackle each other in so we could avoid tackling each other on the street. But running on the street and trying not to get taken down on the concrete, that will make you fast, that’s for sure.

I don’t know the right way to retire.

Maybe a good rule in life is never become too important to do your own laundry.

I don’t dream football. I dream the American Dream – two cars in a garage, be a happy father.

The Heisman is the biggest award I’ve ever won.

Nothing ever turns out the way people expect it to.

I quit because I didnt feel like the Detroit Lions had a chance to win. It just killed my enjoyment of the game.

I wish my teammates, coaches and the entire Lions organization all the best.

I’m a Jewish boy from Jersey. I was born with a strong sense of right and wrong, and a strong sense that the world can be a ludicrous, unfair, inhumane place.

If I could start with anybody, I would initially draft Tom Brady. Then I would go get Ray Lewis, and then maybe an offensive lineman, or somebody like Adrian Peterson.

I really love peace and quiet.

I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do in school, but I definitely didn’t have adequate time to reach my full potential as a student.

My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it. I have searched my heart through and through and feel comfortable with this decision.

In all the time that people have known me, has anyone ever heard me talk about the importance of rushing records or finishing with the most touchdowns? So if that’s never been important to me, then why would that be a motivation to keep playing?

To me, he has his own style. He doesnt remind me any more of myself than I did (other tailbacks). I did things to remind people of Tony Dorsett, but it was a different style. Hes a guy who can catch balls like Marshall Faulk or somebody like that.

I’m not better than anyone else. I’m not supposed to be on a pedestal. I’ve always stayed away from that.

I’d hate to have a kid like me.

You can’t be a real man if you don’t look out for your kids. They need you.

One of my first role models was Eugene Lang, a wealthy businessman who went back to his elementary school in East Harlem and addressed the sixth-grade class. He looked out at that sea of faces and said, “If any of you wants to go to college, I will pay for it.”

One barrier to being a great parent is the mistaken belief that we are raising kids.

Saturday night at my house, I often trot out classic movies and force the urchins to watch them. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I think it’s important to teach kids about American culture, and films are certainly a big part of it.

Speaking of human computers, there is a guy named Art Benjamin, he’s a human calculator. He says it’s a skill he learned as a kid. Now he’s a math professor at Harvey Mudd. He can find the square root of a six digit number in a few seconds. Practice.

You will be raising these kids in your mind your whole life. And they will change you. Your little contribution to it – twenty years from now, they’ll be marching off into other things and that’s still the legacy you leave.

I guess you’re not gonna be happy til’ it’s for real. Four year old kids, doing drive-bys on Big Wheels.