I always talk about being a team player, I think I'm really good team player. I was a big voice in the changing room before games and nothing really changed for me.
I think winning a championship, for me, it put things in perspective. You can either be a great player on a so-so team, or you can be a role player on a championship team, or, in an extreme case, a great player on a championship team.
I don't think I've changed very much. I think I'm the same kid that I was when I got here. When I came here all I wanted to do was win games. I wanted to play baseball for LSU and be the ultimate team player. That's all I want to do. If we don't end up being the last team to win the game at the end of the year then I won't be happy. That's all I'm worried about this year.
I think it is rare that one player really hates another player on a team.
I came out with a few plaudits, and I don't really enjoy that because I am a team player. I don't shout about myself, and I've always been team-orientated, so maybe that is why I have always slipped under the radar throughout my career.
I don't know why you play a team sport and not be concerned about making your teammates better and helping your team win games. That's the only thing that really matters, and if you're the best player, surely you're going to have some effect on the game's outcome.
I think the only thing that matters is you win as a team and you lose as a team. And so the team needs to understand that no one player is bigger than any other player. Everybody has a role... Every single role is important.
I mean, obviously when you've a lot of time on your hands, you get together and you're always always debating that team vs. that team, that player vs. that player, all these hypothetical matchups.
A winning player is nothing more than a player on a winning team. A losing player is a guy who played on a losing team that year.
And I think they loved me because I loved being part of their team, you know, and I quite often say to kids, that I was the worst player in the world's best football team - and that was good enough for me.
I'm a part of a team, and I'm no better or any worse than any single player on this team. That's the approach I've always had and will continue to have. It's not about me. It has never been all about me. If it had, this would have been a really lonely journey.
Being that team player, all of my thoughts are about the team. What can I do for the team?
In football, I've always been about adapting to what's asked of me, to what my team-mates need from me. I'm a team player.
It is one of my biggest regrets that Niall Quinn was not here during my time... I felt he was an intelligent player. It would have been a good combination with Thierry Henry. What I like with Quinn is if you look at the player who played next to him, he always scored 40 goals because he had a hand for his head and he just put the ball where you were. He was a team player. A top-class player makes other players look good and he had that player.
I've been the best player on every team that I played on, so if I can't be the poster child of your team, then what else is it? It's got to be a black-white issue. Every white player I know who's the best player on their team is the poster child of that team.
Of course team spirit and team's strategy matters more than anything else as far as the team is concerned. As far as I am concerned, if the presence of one player is affecting the morale or the spirit of the team, then we might as well rest that player for a while.
I hope I'm building a record of being a good team player and not just standing for my principles but being willing to work for them. I think when you do that and you work really hard, people take notice.