Coming from a small town it was tough to dream big. When I grew up in a small town in Georgia, my biggest dream was one day to be able to go to Atlanta.
If I had to come up with something that just came to me, I think growing up in a small town, I want knowledge. I still think today, knowledge is one of the keys.
Football, that's just athletics. But in the business world - doing everything - people are competing. So you need good work ethics, and I think it helped me to develop good work ethics, being in a small town.
My message is, you can accomplish anything, not just on the athletic field, if you're willing to work pay the price. It doesn't matter what your age.
I don't read a lot of the sports, because I think people sometimes either build it up, or you have this guy that hates sports that is going to write bad about it, so I figure I'm not going to read it. Because I'm not going to let him put an idea into my head.
One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida.
God, my parents, my wife. I don't have a lot of friends, because I'm always moving around. I don't drink, so I don't hang out in bars. But they've been very big in my life. Because they have helped to encourage me.
I was a little different. I still say Im a little different, because success to me is not having the most money, or having the biggest car or the biggest house.
I always said I wanted to be a great athlete, ever since I was an overweight little kid. I just love competing in any kind of athletics.
I'd usually read the Bible a lot. Read little short Bible stories. And today, whenever I give speeches, I bring up a few of those Bible stories, because those are inspirations to me.
My favorite subject probably was math. I love math. I think figures just intrigue me. I was really good at math. English probably was my worst subject, but I used to write a lot of poetry. I used to write poetry all the time.
People shy away from it [MMA] because they think it's a brutal, brutal sport, and I've said, 'Guys, MMA is safer than football and boxing,... And people tell me they don't believe it. Am I not the most credible person to give you the answer to that?
P.E. was my life in school. Without it, I wouldn't be standing here. It gave me confidence when I was an overweight kid with a speech impediment.
I was determined to make Renaissance Man Food Services and Herschel's Famous 34 major players in a very tough industry.
I just think I'm blessed. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a great grandmother that passed away at 104 and two grandparents that passed away at 97 and 95 and they never worried about protein. They just enjoyed life and that's what I'm doing.
I never dreamed about being an actor, because that was out of reach. Coming from a small town that was big in farming, and also big in clothing factories, you don't dream about being a professional football player or an actor.
If you eat a chicken wing or a chicken tender in some parts of the country, I probably supplied it.
Because my parents, growing up, they worked hard. Everyone in my family woke up early in the morning. I used to see my mother and my father go off to work, and come back and, no matter what, they had time for the kids.
