I'd never worked for anyone else until I got to the NFL, and this will be my last time working for someone else.

There aren't many children's books about black characters that are just going on adventures. My library has over 2,000 children's books in it, and most of the protagonists are either white or creatures.

I don't want to inspire the next generation of tight ends or linebackers to play the game. If I could inspire the next generation of architects and technology leaders and writers and illustrators and film directors, then I feel like I have fulfilled my life purpose.

My mind is like a theme park, because it's fun and there's lots of cool stuff and you can take rides.

I recognized from a young age that I wasn't a football player; I played football.

I love to read because I know that for a long time ancestors weren't allowed to. I love to write. Because for a long time my people weren't 'allowed' to. So I'm going to write my books, my apps and tell my stories.

I'm not building gyms. I'm not interested in building football fields or doing football camps. I'm interested in doing film camps and coding camps.

First and foremost, I am a husband and a father, which is a full-time job.

Dreams come true, but dreams don't wait for you. You have to chase your dreams.

I'm not a guy who holds up a product and says, 'Drink this.'

I don't always answer bird calls, but, when I do, they're from Tom Brady and Gronk.

Why does everyone always assume the quarterback is the leader?

If I'm not with my family or playing football then I'm usually in my office writing and drawing.

I don't club, I don't really go out, and there's a lot of stuff I don't really do socially.

If you play sports, use sports. So many of our kids get used by the game and then get nothing out of it. Use it as a tool to open up other doors that you want to open in life.

Shaq and Muhammad Ali's my favorite two athletes of all time.

I only read the left-hand pages, so I finish books twice as fast.

Nothing good happens after 11. If you can't get a date before 11 o'clock, you need to go home and you need to work on yourself.

If I die and you remember me as an athlete, I failed at life.

Any time you're in a maze there's multiple ways to get to the end.

I like art, photography, film - all that creativity.

Dr. Seuss said, 'No one can be you-er than you,' and Oscar Wilde said, 'Be yourself because everyone else is taken.' So I just try to continue to be who I am and don't change that. And I'm a little chameleon, so I can fit in wherever I am.

Of course, everyone knows my story of being born in Russia and moving to the United States at 7. For a few years people would say, 'Well, she's living in the United States, but she's Russian.'

I'm always that annoying person that pulls out the camera in the middle of dinner and starts taking candids.