A successful entrepreneur can't be afraid of failures or setbacks. An initial setback can be a great opportunity to take a new and more promising approach to any problem, to come back stronger than ever.
When you're at the highest point of your career at the highest level in your sport, any moment that you have these setbacks and injuries is devastating. You have to start back from zero, and you never know if you're going to get back to where you once were.
I've seen myself do stuff on stage that was pretty amazing. I think that would be true for any athlete. Any top athlete will see something that they are very proud of. All my injuries will attest to the fact that besides being a musician, it comes down to being an athlete.
Guys get injuries and there's a reason why these injuries happen. A lot of time you're going to get your knee injuries and your ankle injuries, but sometimes if a guy's back is hurting it might be because his core isn't balanced with his back.
I consider myself an athlete. I train like an athlete, I eat like an athlete, I recover and get sore just like any other athlete.
I feel like no matter what I write about, I try to end up being the stronger person in the situation. Even in heartbreak, I feel like I'm a much stronger person because of that. I don't want to just write a sad song and still feel sad after that. I want to feel stronger and better.
You're never going to get rid of the injuries. The injuries are going to happen as long as there's football, especially the way it's always been played. So that's something that won't go away. But I guess they're trying to do the best they can to reduce those injuries and really take guys out of harm's way as much as they can.
In 2008 I didn't take it all in enough. I was so wrapped up in just the competition that I missed what was going on around me. If I am given that opportunity again to go to the Olympics and be an athlete I want to take it all in because I feel like this is my last shot and I want to feel the team spirit. I want to really live and breathe the USA.
Injuries are psychologically so hard for an athlete because you don't get to do what you love to do.
It's always hard to deal with injuries mentally, but I like to think about it as a new beginning. I can't change what happened, so the focus needs to go toward healing and coming back stronger than before.
I'm proud of the way I've dealt with setbacks. It's hard when you feel down and you think, 'Why is the world doing this to me?' But you have to pick yourself up again. That's what makes you a better athlete.
Concussions have brought the consciousness to the problem, but I think the problem is football-related injuries, period, and the lack of support from the league of those players who have suffered those injuries. The denial factor has been unbelievable. I'm here because I'm a fighter to try to bring attention to this fact.
As an athlete, I understood the value of my health insurance. I knew that in my profession, injuries were common and could happen at any time.
I've never had to make weight for any sport before. Because, get this, I was not allowed to do any sports in school because I was a professional athlete. I was doing wrestling at the age of 15, so the school districts and the board of directors said that because I was a professional athlete that I couldn't do anything.
I always say I'm hurting sometimes, have a lot of injuries. But if you win a game, I feel great. But if you lose the game, those injuries, they come up. I don't know how to explain it, winning is such a unique thing.
In my sports or workout life, I like to prove to myself I can do something, whether it's a half marathon or whatever it is. I like to take challenges that scare me because then once we've accomplished it, we feel stronger.