I look very foolish. To a lot of people I look foolish in what I'm doing and I understand that. The only thing that matters is how I feel and if I let how they feel affect me it'll change how I feel.
Playing in the National Football League, you're told, you know, where to be, when to be there, what to wear, how to be there. Being able to step away from that, I have an opportunity to look deeper into myself and look for what's real.
I've had a lot of clouds in my life since I got into pro football -- too many -- but now I feel like I can see really clearly for the first time. And I can see the Super Bowl from here.
I have no room in my life for any form of negativity or nonacceptance.
A team takes on the personality of the head coach.
It used to be irritating just because someone can meet you and before they would get a chance to get to know you, they’ll go find someone else’s story about who I am. For me personally, I just always think it’s more interesting to get to know the person myself.
I don't think I'll ever be able to stay in one place for more than a year or two. It's not in my nature.
I don't care what people think about me because I know I am more than all the pain and strife they hold inside.
I definitely have come out of my shell a lot more. When you question who you are, you can't be proud of who you are. Now that I'm trying to peel off those layers and really understand who I am, I don't have anything to be shy about.
And any time you feed your ego, it's a one-way street. ... There were so many things I had to deal with that erased the positives I got from playing the game that it wasn't worth it. It's like eating a Big Mac and drinking a Diet Coke.
Maybe I'm stupid or whatever, but to me if I got a concussion, if I could see straight and I could carry a football then I'm not telling anybody.
Texas was such a welcoming place, and with its unbelievable history and tradition, it's extra special to be a part of that.
It's something that I had been pushing down my whole life. The search for meaning, I guess, the whispering of the soul.
I've never been in trouble with the police.
I've always been attracted to things that are taboo. I've never been afraid to go to that dark place.
Nine in the box... that's a football term.
I would drive home and see people wearing my No. 34 jersey and wonder why, because I didn't feel worthy of that. And all the time I just knew people were staring at me, talking about me everywhere I went.
There is no need to smear my name or to defame my character for the sake of news.
I stepped away to find out more about myself, which I was having difficulty doing as a football player. I got a chance to travel the world. I studied Eastern philosophy, and I've grown as a person so much.
I'm closer to being happy. I'm doing things that make me happy. In football I loved to practice and I loved to play, but I hated to be in meetings, hated to talk to the media, hated to have cameras in my face, hated to sign autographs. I hated to do all those things.
After I won the Heisman Trophy, it just was OK, I’m supposed to go to the NFL and so that’s what I did. I didn’t really have any expectations and I didn’t really understand how things worked.
I don't think people change. I think they definitely mature. But I think the essence of what I am today is the same as when I was five years old. It's just maturity. I've become a healthier, fuller expression of that essence.
I love myself. Because I'm all that I have and if I don't love myself, no one else will. Whenever I feel myself starting to dislike something I tell myself, "This is who I am," so what's the point in disliking it?
I can look back at it now as definitely like an initiation into adulthood. Almost overnight in the NFL, I was put on a pedestal and I was supposed to be this icon or this image of what a professional athlete was supposed to be. I felt like I just got stuck trying to be someone else and I forgot who I actually was.
Everywhere I go, people hear Ricky Williams and the next thing they think is marijuana or wasted talent.
