“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.”

I sat behind Thurman Thomas for my first couple of years, then my first year starting I won the Heisman. After I won the Heisman, that’s when things changed as far as going to the NFL.

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

Christianity affects your whole life. I feel I’m more competitive, a better player, but off the field is where there is always a battle.

See God gave us the talent, but the devil make us famous.

You can look at everything from pre-Heisman to post-Heisman, and I think that’s why it ranks up at the top, because before then, I didn’t even think I was good enough to be a professional ballplayer.

It’s probably similar to being in New York City and having a cab driver behind you and you’re driving too slow. It’s not the most pleasant thing.

And we shout with the others, When we should keep our mouths shut. Why? After all, we do only go around once. There’s really no time to be afraid. JUST DO IT.

I just felt like I had run out of steam. I just felt like it was my time.

As a kid, I played my share of football in the street or in a vacant lot. When we were playing in the street, it was more touch football, so we didn’t hit each other into cars.

According to the United Nations’ latest count, of the approximately 3,000 languages spoken in the world today, only some 78 have a literature. Of those 78, a scant five or six enjoy a truly international audience.

Life doesn’t stop with football.

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.

Nobody likes to fail but failure is an essential part of life and of learning. If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game.

The game is the ultimate significance to me because it is so important to a lot of people. It has left a mark on our culture to be voted as one of the best to ever play.

At home I mostly stick to online Scrabble, or chess or Risk – games I find far less addictive than the spectacular games created for consoles these days. But, whenever I get the chance I head over to my friend Kyri’s house to play his PS3.

I like to be against the odds. I’m not afraid to be lonely at the top. With me, it’s just the satisfaction of the game. Just performance.

Before the 11th of September, in my discussions with many officials of the United States, some of them are Congressmen, I used to say that “don’t deal with terrorists as playing games.” It’s a different story. You’re going to pay the price if you’re not wise in dealing with terrorists.

Unlike multiculturalism, cultural pluralism doesn’t just mean diversity but also togetherness – primarily the understanding of the rules of the game – the European values structure.

If youre going to play the game properly, youd better know every rule.

Fifty percent of the game is mental and the other 50 percent is being mental. I’ve got that part down, no problem.