I think my background, coming from Iran, which is a great country but is going through its share of troubles, really allows me to appreciate what we have here.

Desperation sometimes drives innovation.

I think I wanted to be a doctor. In Iran, the engineering and medical professions are worshipped. My father very much wanted me to be a doctor. I was certainly eager to please as a young man - as a kid, I should say.

One of the early lessons that I learned in leadership is that it's the leader's job to always go against the flow.

You can't put as much into one thing as you want, and I felt like I was shortchanging football a little bit by giving school so much time.

I met all these important people and did all these stories, but I always had such excellent producers and assistants. I could show up to interview a world leader or a criminal and they would have things so well prepared anyone could have done it. It wasn't about 'me,' it was about 'us.'

Sports is a bunch of people gathering around, watching something that they're not actually connected to - they're just emotionally connected.

I thought, 'If I ever get a new football building, I want a slide.' Now I go down it every day.