I always appreciated my dad coming outside and playing with us - or my mom - and being a part of the game we were playing or refereeing it or just being outside. That was fun for us, and it was very encouraging.
I have three younger siblings, so the four of us were outside all the time after school playing games, making up games. My sister made up a game called 'roof ball.' We'd play that constantly. She always beat me in it, and it made me very mad. But we were outside all the time.
My mom and dad decided to homeschool us - I'm one of eight - because they really wanted us to be outside and learn some other fundamentals instead of it being school all day in a classroom.
My father was a very fun dad; he was always coaching our soccer sports teams, he made sure that we had activities to do. He was kind of goofy and fun. But at the same time, he had a lot of lessons to teach us so that we didn't grow up and just not be good people. I try and reflect a lot on how I was raised by my father in the character that I'm playing now in being a dad. You've got to be strong for these kids. You also have to be fun and teach them all the lessons, not just one, or two, or three.
When I was a kid, I just wanted to be outside. I didn't grow up watching football. Didn't ever watch a college game. I watched 'Monday Night Football' because my dad liked it, but we didn't sit around on Sundays. I was outside, playing, training, whatever.
I was always into playing outside as a kid; being outdoors is just a part of who I am. I owe this to both my parents, who exposed me to hunting and fishing at a young age.
We have always appealed to people outside of the mainstream. Constantly, we get people coming up to us and saying, 'I was just the freakiest one in high school. I was the only one who kept playing the B-52's.'
I don't see us as being part of that 90s revival. We were always a band, even when we weren't playing together.
Part of the problem is that we have become so dependent upon this system that is killing and exploiting us, it has become almost impossible for us to imagine living outside of it, and it's very difficult physically for us to live outside of it.
I've been playing quarterback for a long time, and there's a ton of expectations no matter where you are and how you got there. That's part of the game and part of the position. That's part of the reason I love playing the position, is the expectations and the pressure and all of the outside things that come along with it.
I am so fidgety - I swear I have ADD - and I always need to be doing something or being outside, just playing sports.
A basketball was in my hands 24/7, playing one-on-one against everybody and anybody, trying to prove against the older guys, just playing. The wind blowing outside, double rims, stuff like that, just always playing ball.
To me, my parents are my mom and dad, and we were able as kids to do a lot of cool things. Just being part of that family definitely brought out and cultivated the creative arts in us.
I was obsessed with the idea of sitting next to someone and playing a game that we were both competing in, and we were also competing with the computer. That was mind-blowing to me at that time. It was just so cool to think about the computer being able to play with us, and then also [for] us to compete.
A friend got attacked outside a nightclub just for being deaf. I stuck up for him but ended up getting in a bit of a trouble myself. I played with a tag at Stocksbridge. I had a little curfew. Luckily, it didn't stop me playing football. Being put on a tag, I could have lost playing football again.
So my mom's folks are from one side of Greensboro - and, you know, outside of Greensboro. And my dad's folks, the white side, is from another very small town outside of Greensboro. So both sides are coming from the country.
I have to say that sports is what kept me out of trouble. No matter the circumstances, my mom kept us playing sports. She worked hard to provide for us and even harder to make sure we always stayed active. Whether it was football or basketball, we were playing one sport or another year-round.