I love the preparation, the excitement of game day, the nervousness of game day. But I enjoy the day-to-day stuff. Game day is a great day but I enjoy Mondays and Tuesdays, watching yourself on film, watching the next opponent, getting the game plan.
I'll never forget when we won that game my rookie year versus Kansas City. We won one game, we were 1-10, and to sit there and watch everybody celebrate, there's nothing like it. I just sat there and enjoyed it.
My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing.
I remember many a time, going into someplace like Wrigley Field - where you could cut the humidity with a knife - and playing a doubleheader. I loved to play the game. It didn't matter if it was a doubleheader, or a single game, or a day game after a night game. I wanted to play.
If we lose a game, I change up what I did that day, like if I eat something that day I will not eat the same thing again the next game day.
When I'm shaving, I'm thinking about what I need to accomplish that day. If it's game day, I'm thinking about schemes, thinking about my matchup for that game. If it's practice, I'm thinking about what film we're going to watch. Or if it's a recovery day, I'm thinking of what body parts are aching and what I want to work on.
It's football all day on Sunday. I wish we had football every day; that would make me way happier. Why can't we have that? You've got all these teams! Why can't we just play a Monday game, a Tuesday game, a Wednesday game?
Basketball is a lifelong game. You continue to learn from the game day in and day out, and all along the way, you get better.
We were 6-4 and everybody doubted us. We lost to the Kansas City Chiefs and that week we had a players meeting and really talked about where we really want to go. It's not about the record. At the end of the day it comes down to are we going to keep focusing on each other and are we going to keep getting better day by day? We ignored the noise, we ignored all the talk from the outside.
When you play the Oakland Raiders when you're the Kansas City Chiefs, you know they're going to come out with that mentality that they're going to win. They're going to come out fighting. It's a rivalry game.
One day, I was playing 'The Game of Life,' the board game, with a mess of kids, and I wasn't quite sure how, but it seemed different than the game I remembered playing as a kid. So I bought an old game, from 1960, and it was different.
Every single time we step on to the field - practice field or game field - we're thinking about winning that championship. But at the same time, we're taking it day by day. And we are taking it game by game.
When our backs are on the wall, that's the time when we enjoy having fun, relax out there, do our thing, don't get the pressure on, see the results, day by day, game by game.
I try to eat a lot of carbs, especially the day of the game, because it fills you up. I have my breakfast and I have a huge lunch before I play. For me it's always having pasta and chicken to get some protein in me, so I don't play on an empty stomach at night. The day before a game it's high protein, mostly, with fish or steak, but nothing crazy.
When it's game situation, when it's game day, game time, when it's World Cup, when it's these tournaments that happen once every so often, I live for that, I live for that challenge.
People's outlook on Kansas City is always like, 'They let you rap in K.C.?' Or 'How's Dorothy and Toto?' They put Kansas and Kansas City together, when it's really separate.