People think that whatever happens on the football field should define me way one or the other. A lot of people say, 'I can't believe you don't think more highly of yourself, two-time MVP, Super Bowl MVP,' but it's like, whatever. It just happens to be what I do. I want to be defined by what I believe in, by who I am.

I was a Cowboys fan growing up.

People are going to forget that I won a Super Bowl, but they're never going to forget the kind of impact you had on them personally.

It did not matter whether it was preseason, regular season, my first playoff game, or the Super Bowl, I was nervous. And all that meant was that it always mattered to me. Anytime I was putting myself on a line, it didn't matter what it was, it was okay to be nervous because it was important to me. It was important to do my job well.

As far as success, I have always felt that success is determined by competitiveness.

You have to live life for today and for this moment.

That's what you kind of see with Matthew Stafford. He makes some incredible plays, even with his arm in different positions. But the consistency's not there that you need at the position to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and I think that's where cleaning up the technique will help.

The Biggest Loser,' 'The Voice,' and 'American Idol'... they're giving people opportunities to do what they've always dreamed of doing... to me, that's great reality television.

The thing that I appreciate so much about my career and journey is that I do believe everybody can relate to it. There were highs and lows, obviously, before I got to the NFL. And then I got there and won a championship.

I don't think anyone has a bad perception of me. Just a limited one. Everyone thinks I pretty much sit around and talk about Jesus all the time. But I'm normal. I'm just a guy. Yeah, I love Jesus and do things a bit different, but I have the same conversations and share the same thoughts as anyone else.

I had to play arena football for three years. I had to work in a grocery store for a while to make ends meet. I had to go to Amsterdam to play.

You can take off a football jersey, but you can never take off your faith. That goes with you everywhere.

I look terrible in caps.

One thing faith always did for me is it gave me perspective that, yeah, I was to maximize my gift and talents in the area of football, but it was always a means to glorify God and represent God.

At the end of the day, it's not about starting a game in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl, or getting to the Hall of Fame. It's about representing yourself in a way that represents your faith.

It's a great game, and it's done great things for me and my family, but the bottom line is when I'm done, I want to be able to walk away and be everything I need to be for my family.

For so many years, I wished it could have been different. I wished I could have gotten the opportunity sooner. I would have loved to see what had happened had I got to the NFL right out of college and all of those different things.

The road to our dreams has many detours.

I think, a lot of guys, when they get, you know, those hits or those concussions, they think, 'OK, well, I'm just going to kind of play through it here for the short term, and it's going to get better.' I would venture to say probably 100 percent of the guys that played my sport in the NFL have been there.

Nothing is a guarantee at all.

The great ones have the ability to focus and tune everything else out and see more than the others. Average quarterbacks have tunnel vision. They see what's in front of them. The better you get, the more that tunnel expands, and the more guys on the field you see.

I've done things that people in this league will never do.

Sometimes guys peak early. They get drafted higher, and they make it to the NFL, and they don't have a lot of growth.

I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, so in Iowa, we didn't have a pro sports team, so it was all about the Hawks, and everybody was a Hawkeyes fan, and everybody had their black and gold and had something Hawkeye related.