Any time you're recovering from an injury, your main focus is trying to get back into shape, really just getting healthy again.

I'm big into water. I tend to get dehydrated pretty quickly, so water is my way to get those essentials that I need to continue a workout or go get the rest of the day.

I stay away from online dating. Interacting with the person right in front of you is a much easier way to talk.

Losing! It bothers me a lot. I'm such a competitor, and I take everything personally.

I understand that football is only a certain time in my life, and my degree will help me sustain my life well past football.

In Hawaii, after somebody introduces themselves, the next question is, 'What high school did you go to?' From there, it's either 'Oh, OK, it's cool, I know some family,' or it's trash-talking to the max, like 'my school is better than your school.' This is how it kind of is back there.

I really believe in a community effort.

Getting an education, building relationships and lasting friendships for the rest of your life... you can't take that away.

I just try to be who I am.

My parents always told me to be respectful to anyone you meet and to live your life that way.

The best leaders adapt and are flexible with their situations. I try to be the same.

I always try to make it a point when I'm talking to guys to say we. It's not you need to do this, it's what can we do better. It makes it more of a family culture.

My main focus was to be a great teammate. That's all I hoped to accomplish. I don't really care about legacies.

When I'm aggressive and things are moving quick and my feet are in place, I'm a better, more accurate thrower.

I learned a long time ago through my dad that you shouldn't really compare yourself to others - just because that hampers how good you can be.

I want to be as gracious and thankful as I can because it has been a long road.

I love listening to the radio because there's something about that discovery, that platform, still being the main medium. And it is changing with streaming services, but I like to listen to what people are listening to and figure out why is this song so catchy.

This never happens, but I was writing with my friend Ryan Hurd and Eric Arjes, and we wrote this song called 'Last Turn Home.' The next day, my publisher emailed it to Tim McGraw's label. He listened to it, and I think within the week, he went into the studio and recorded it. And that never happens.

I love dry British humor. I love to sketch in my off time. I love tequila.

In Texas, it's legal for a kid to be in a bar with your parents.

As a touring musician over the last 15 years, before streaming and iPods, you had to listen to terrestrial radio wherever you were. That's always been my way of connecting to a location. Turn on the radio, search through the dial.

I'm a huge country fan and am always inspired by classic country.

Don't forget to celebrate. When I was first coming up, everything was so serious - we were always rushing to get to the next thing - that we didn't take the time to say, 'Man, look what we did just now.'

You need someone there that gets what you're going through.

Nashville has become sort of this go-to writing city for every genre.

If I got dropped tomorrow or every single I released from now on tanked, I'd be devastated, but I'd also still be doing this. I'd still be writing songs. I'd still be recording them. I was doing that for four years in Nashville. This is just on a larger stage.

I love playing with my dog and just sitting on the patio with people I don't get to see very often anymore. I'm a pretty simple gal.

I did choir, soccer, some theater. The only weird thing about my life was that I was playing honky-tonks on the weekends.

I have a Prius, but I'd love to have a white convertible like Richard Gere's in 'American Gigolo.'

A lot of new artists sign their deal and then go into a development stage for a year or two or sometimes never get out of it. For me, because I had been a working songwriter in town, I had a collection of songs that I was ready to make into an album. At the time, I didn't realize it was becoming an album, but it was.

There's Kelsea Ballerini, myself... Lauren Alaina, Raelynn, and there's been this influx of really amazing artists who happen to be women. I think I'm not really attached to the females in country conversation as much anymore, but I think, you know, we're here to stay, and we've always been here, and we've always been good.

I think about the people that I've seen change because they believed in their own hype. I just never want that to happen to me.

There are so many fun things that you live that you can write about and people of all ages can connect to.

I internalize a lot of thoughts, and sometimes it seems like I'm not listening or totally zoned out, but I'm always on a loop of ideas and song titles. I'm definitely kind of a space cadet, but I'm very laid back.

The songwriting community in Nashville really is all about your talent. It's not about your image, and you have to be humble. You have to be kind. You have to have zero ego when you walk into that writing room.

I get a lot of my songwriting done while driving around Nashville - sometimes it comes to me that way.

I was 14, and I played this club that's no longer there because it was poorly managed: the Texas Tea House in Fort Worth.

When I look at most lineups, especially in country, women are definitely lacking in numbers.

If I had been thrown out into a radio tour when I was 18, or 17, and given a record deal, I don't think... it would have been a total nightmare.

Enjoy every moment because it is so good and just a testament to all the work you've put in.

I love love songs, but sometimes it's okay to just be young and talk about something other than getting married or falling in love. There are so many fun things that you live that you can write about and people of all ages can connect to.

Right before I go out, we usually put on some Lauryn Hill or Fugees, and I'll do a shot of tequila just to calm my nerves.

I don't know if there's something in the water in Texas, but there's a lot of us really ballsy women that have something to say.

I just love when girls rock short hair, because they can't hide behind anything. I feel more empowered with short hair.

You can't be rolling into town with stars in your eyes. A lot of people get to Nashville and immediately start selling themselves: 'Let's go to lunch and talk about the business!' Then you realize everyone is talented here.

You either have to sing about being scorned by a lover or sing about thinking a boy is cute and wanting him to notice you. That's about as edgy as you can get.

It definitely is an ice breaker going into the awards already having one, and it was just so crazy when I heard I did win because I was in London at the time, and we were doing a festival out there, and my manager was like, 'You just won an ACM.' And I was like, 'How? It's so early!'

My lyrics are more country - what I love is the storytelling and the structure, how tight the rhymes can be. But pop melodies have always been intrinsically linked to my writing style.

Obviously, writing together is very intimate because it's sort of acting where you need to get to a really deep place to get the most emotional song.

I wanted to become a better songwriter, so it seemed like a no-brainer to move to Nashville, where some of the best writers in the world live.