The one thing disappointing I had coming out of college was not playing in the Rose Bowl.

I'm not here to propel myself into the limelight. I'm here to win a football game. If I am propelled into the limelight, I want it to be because of what I do on the football field, not because of some grand marketing strategy.

I always play every game in my mind before it begins. A lot of times in a game, a play will happen, and it will feel like deja vu, like I've seen the play happen before in my mind.

To say, 'I don't worry about perception,' you better worry about perception because it's a big part of making it through some very difficult times.

I was so engrossed in my sport, I wasn't thinking about the future from God's standpoint. I was thinking about just my sporting future.

I was an athlete, so I hung out with the jocks. I was smart, so I hung out with the nerdy kids. I was also into theater, so I hung out with the misfits... So I was always in different groups, and those groups never quite overlapped. The racial part of it was just another one of those groups, in one sense.

In affluent communities, where each member is keenly aware of his or her place within the Byzantine order, attracting the right friends is a blood sport. Chumming up to influential figures who are in a position to help can determine the course of an entire life.

It's been a privilege to get to watch one of sports greatest athletes prepare and get to play with him; honestly... it's a dream. I remember being in eighth grade saying, 'I'm Tom Brady,' on the asphalt at recess, you know, playing football.