My position in football was cornerback, and what your job is as a cornerback is to read the person that's in front of you - read their body language and anticipate what's going to happen next.

I think any time you're able to humanize the plight of the wrongfully incarcerated, then you're doing your job.

I always go back to the fact that one man can make a difference. No matter what the issue, we always have the power to change it.

I don't think you can ever get bored or lose focus as a competitor.

When you're playing to get into the playoffs, your contract is the last thing on your mind.

Oh man, you miss it so much when you finish playing, especially when you play for most of your life. You miss just being a part of a team and being a part of the guys. So I definitely think producing brought that back for me. A bunch of people working together for a common goal.

Luckily enough for me I reached a level in the game where no one questioned my work ethic or my ability and then I was like, I don't care. Every off-season I might do a scene in a TV show or something just to keep that going.

When you go into free agency and have options, any team is up for you to be on - and the Raiders, obviously with me having been there for so long, have a great shot at it.

Seven straight years of losing isn't fun for anyone.

My favorite piece of clothing as a boy was a purple Magic Johnson jersey from the Los Angeles Lakers.

My parents were among the first families from their area to leave Nigeria and come to America, the land of the free.

It doesn't matter how well you play individually if the team isn't winning.

When football is your job, a lot of what you feel about yourself and about life can become attached to the outcome of those games. That's probably true about a lot of jobs, but we suffer our losses pretty publicly. When you're not getting the results you want, it becomes easy to get depressed.

There's a drive, there's a hunger inside of me that says, 'I know what I can do and I'm going to get it done.'

I grew up in L.A. in the '80s, and the Lakers were the biggest thing to ever hit the world at that time.

Football came in at an interesting time. My dad passed, and my brother was one year older than me. And so he was basically the man of the house - at like age 12. So I really just started doing whatever he did, and football was his thing, so I got into football.

When I was a kid, I thought good acting was fascinating, and I could tell the difference. I could see that at like 9 years old.

I help receivers on my team every now and then, but I'm slow to do even that because they could end up my opponent the following year.

It can be a bit sententious in the Nigerian household, to the point where you feel like with any wrong step you've set yourself back so far. It's like everything has to be done right.

I was always the person who would make the mistake. I was the one who would get suspended from school.

I remember players talking to Willie Brown in my presence. Receivers asking, 'Is this who you drafted? I can't believe this is who you drafted.' I was hearing it from my defensive backs: 'Man, you got a long way to go.'

I learned early in my career that I had to be prepared for life after football because you never knew when it would end.

After 11 seasons, I retired from football. Four months later I was in Ghana shooting 'Beasts of No Nation' as an executive producer.

I'm grateful for all the teams that I've played for, the fans, the organizations, the front offices, the list goes on and on.

Just to have the opportunity to play in the NFL, I think it's the biggest dream come true for me.

In great Al Davis fashion, he took a reach that he believed in and instilled confidence in me like nobody else could. I was able to become all that he expected of me.

It's really refreshing to get these types of moments when people can say, 'Yeah, you're one of the best.'

I always grade myself hard.

I tell people all the time that football taught me about life in every single aspect.

Even when we were little, we were always helping, going to feed the homeless, community drives, that type of stuff.

My freshman year, I started working with a group called Touchdown for Kids.

I've always felt that I'm successful for a reason - so I can help, whether that's one individual or a group of people. That's why I keep going with football. I love the game and I'll keep playing as long as I can, but ultimately there's a different purpose.

From what I came from, all the negative criticism - that keeps me from embracing that title of being the best. Because I always feel like there is another level I have to get to.

When a team wants you, you can feel it.

Obviously, teams are passing a lot more, and there are rules that... allow the offense to be more explosive, so you want to have as many defensive players and defensive playmakers and defensive backs that you can.

I get friends that ask that all the time, and I remember my mother asking me a couple of times, because there was no action during a game, 'did you play?' It's so weird. Everybody's like, 'Great game, great game.' And because I demand so much of myself, I'm like, 'Well, I didn't do that great, because I didn't have any stats.'

I know so many people who've been through situations where they've gone from one career to another and have had such a tough time because they didn't have any support doing it.

I was really close with Rob Ryan, so I know that Rex, being his twin, would be very similar to him.

It's a difficult thing in this league to match up, to line up and play one-on-one football.

I give my all for the sport, and I just don't like it when, if things don't work out, people say, 'Oh, he doesn't care enough about football.' That was the thing that hurt me the most.

When it's football time, that's where I am - the studying, the working, the practicing, everything.

I know that a lot of times when a guy is making a lot of money and he's not playing up to that caliber, it's like he's just getting his paycheck. That's never been me. That's never, ever been me.

I became stiff as a safety, and so I had to learn to move like a corner and think like a corner.

I think everybody has talents that haven't been tapped into. They can go unnoticed your entire life.

My mind-set is to come in and compete and be the best I can possibly be.

I've had a chip on my shoulder every year that I've played.

Ultimately, the Niners just felt at the end of the day like the right place to be. I was really impressed with the way they run their organization, impressed with the winning, impressed with coaches and players. Everything felt like it was in line.

I get a different pronunciation at least every week. I think the worst one, or the funniest one I got, somebody called me, 'Oh-gooz-man.'

I'll be relentless in my efforts to be great, but I'm realistic. I know I can't be perfect because I've seen it. But at the same time, nobody wants to fail, nobody wants to fail.

You're seen a certain way in the acting world. To them, you're still a football player and not taken as seriously. They think you're just doing it to be a celebrity, to keep your name out there. They don't think you'll prepare.