I always wanted to play a boxer because some of my favorite films, as a boy, were those great boxing movies, like 'Raging Bull', 'Rocky', 'The Set Up', 'Fat City and Hard Times'. I just loved those films.

Not all television scripts are created equal. And the process is ridiculous. They send you a script and want you in the next morning. That's not how acting works. You can do anything to me as an actor; I'm a very resilient guy. Just don't rush me. If you ask me to do it immediately with no time to prepare, I know you have contempt for actors.

When I do a movie, I have the script. I know how it begins and how it ends. I know what my character does and where he's going. If I have ideas I want to express or changes I want to make, there's one guy: the director. It's different in television.

I love boxing. I really respect the guys and admire the guys who do it. But, I'm very, very happy with my career as an actor. I made the right choice and things are really working out for me right now, but I won't pretend that there isn't a part of me that always secretly wanted to be a boxer.

I was drafted by the New Orleans Saints and was tired of dealing with injuries. I just got tired of playing football, if you want to know the truth, and I was sitting on the floor at my father in-law's house and started to watch pro wrestling. I've watched it for a little bit before, so I thought to myself, 'You know what? I can do that!'

Playing football in Fargo has a total big-time feel. Everyone says it's FCS and it's a smaller school, but in Fargo, North Dakota, and in the state of North Dakota, NDSU football is the real deal.

I played football for 12 years, but I would always trick myself into exercise, like by taking a dance class.

It has been three great years; good moments, bad moments, like football is. I'm really proud of the decision I made. Newcastle is home.