The type of football I played at Everton, the fans said it wasn't good enough and I would say the same - I knew it wasn't good enough for Everton - but I knew I had to get them in the position where they were safe.
Usually if you have an idea, you have to first pitch it to a production company, get them on board, then go around and pitch to networks.
It's very important to go pitch-by-pitch and game-by-game and not getting too far ahead of myself. In the past, it was trying to make up for a bad game and thinking ahead and what do I have to do to fix this.
When I spoke to Everton, the plan, the project, the history of the club was interesting. If I didn't see ambition in Everton I wouldn't come to Everton and that's maybe a good message to all of the players.
I like Everton. If I'm going to cheer for that kind of football team, I'm going to cheer for Everton. But the Seahawks are my passion.
When you're facing a different guy every at-bat, he's coming at you with his best stuff. There's no warm-up; there's no 'see a pitch.' You've got to be locked in from the very first pitch... The biggest thing is do your homework before the game starts.
I would have to say my best moment as an Everton player would probably be making my debut against Arsenal, coming on to such a good atmosphere as well. I was on the pitch when Ashley Williams scored the header and I remember he ran the full length of the pitch, and me being quite new I chased him all the way.
No one has ever raised capital because their pitch deck was pretty. A lot of people have raised capital because they were over-prepared, knew where their business was going, and were able to articulate that through a pitch alongside a pitch deck.
There here has been some exceptional players to wear the No 9 shirt for Everton. For me to get that number, I knew what it meant and I knew what was required.
I'm happy here at Everton. When I decided to come here, I came thinking only in my club, which is Everton, and nothing else. What has to happen next will happen next. I feel comfortable here. I do not know whether my game is more suited to the Premier league or La Liga, but I am very well here.
Everton have put their faith in me, and I intend to honour this shirt and demonstrate on the pitch why I came here.
I threw the opening pitch at a Blue Jays game, and after the pitch, the mascot asked me if I wanted him to sign the game ball, which I thought was funny. What would he write? "Best Wishes, Some Guy in a Bird Suit"?"
I think I was always going to be an Everton player from the day I was born. There is a certain type of player who is an Everton player
Man, it literally starts from after the game. I get every at-bat sent to me from the game. I'll go home, I'll watch every at-bat, kind of break down the game, kind of see, OK, what did I do? Why'd I miss this pitch? Why'd I hit that pitch?
I have always been confident in my skills and once the game got going I knew I was probably the best player on the floor most of the time whether it was junior high, high school or college. I knew I had control of the game.
I first remember Wayne Rooney from a game at Old Trafford in 2002 when he came on as a late substitute for Everton and, in a brilliant 15-minute performance, skipped past me on a couple of occasions.