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

You know, I’m fairly intelligent, but I don’t think my grades reflected that.

Shortly after the end of last season, I felt that I probably would not return for the 1999-2000 season. I also felt that I should take as much time as possible to sort through my feelings and make sure that my feelings were backed with conviction.

I want to thank all of the fans and media who made playing in the NFL such a wonderful experience. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of them.

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.

Running back was always my favorite position.

I don’t want to get too detailed into it, but when you’re a good high school running back, you can almost be whatever type of runner you want to be. If you’re a good size and a good athlete, you can be whatever type of runner you want.

A lot of times I did lose yards on a run, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

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.

Football is a simple game made complicated by people who should know better.

Players win games, and coaches win players.

No matter how much you’ve won, no matter how many games, no matter how many championships, no matter how many Super Bowls, you’re not winning now, so you stink.

The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.

You can lead a team in a lot of different ways. It can be talking to somebody who is down or, during the course of a game, looking to penetrate and then dropping the ball off to someone else for an easy bucket.

Though it is a team game by definition, it is actually a series of loosely connected individual efforts.

I’ve had many skilful men and the likes of Peter Thompson, Ian St John, Kevin Keegan and Steve Heighway were the ones who caught the eye. But the best professional of the lot was Gerry Byrne.

Competition is healthy. It makes you work harder and strive for more and try to find that extra one or two percent in your game that you could possibly improve.