Growing up in Australia and the way I was raised, my dad told me to play as a team and to be a team player. You have five guys on the court. It's easy for five guys to defend one guy. It's hard to guard five. It's just a natural thing to do.
I've just got to be the best player that I can be and worry about what I've got to do to help out the team, and be the best team out there we can be, and the best player I can be out there on the field to help out the team.
I had role models in my community, guys that were older than me and played at university or on the national team. Eli Pasquale was always around UVic when I was a young player, and the national team was around Victoria a little bit, so I got to watch those guys and learn from them.
I'm definitely not one of those guys that's chirping the guys that dress super nice, because you know, there's guys out there in the league - and on my team in fact - that have great style. And I'm just like, 'go for it, man, you look good!'
You learn something new from every player. No player is the same, so I'm definitely trying to pick up as much as I can from the guys ahead of me and from the guys who have been in the league for a long time.
Truth is the same always. Whoever ponders it will get the same answer. Buddha got it. Patanjali got it. Jesus got it. Mohammed got it. The answer is the same, but the method of working it out may vary this way or that. (115)
I believe, certainly in the NHL, a player who can help a team win because he can contribute on the ice is going to be coveted whatever his beliefs may be or whoever he may be. That goes to national origin, religious beliefs, or sexuality.
When you play on a team, you learn that there will always be five guys you like, a bunch of guys who are OK, and five you despise. The trick to getting along in any system is not to worry about the five you despise.
I don't necessarily view myself as a big - I view myself just as a player, someone who can go out there and contribute to the team from any position.
I'll tell you, girl fans were actually pushier than the guys. The guys got scared, because when the five of us were together, we were out of control. If I were in the room with the five of us, I'd leave. It's like a five-headed monster.
A football team is really just a reflection of society. You've got 118, 120 guys on the team, you got a little bit of everything.
I used to like to see The Millionaires versus The Hulkamaniacs. That team versus team atmosphere where you have 10 guys or 8 guys, and it comes down to 3-on-1 - that got exciting for me.
A quarterback has got to take control and I feel like I've done a good job with that. Not just what we're doing offensively, but in the locker room getting to know guys and hanging out with guys. All of that is going to make you a better team.
Fame doesn't make me any different. I am the same man now who grew up in the hard streets of Panama. I am just myself. I always will be. Whoever wants to talks to me, talks to me. Whoever loves me, loves me for who I am.
I remember quotes in the paper, 'Here comes the man that New York loves to hate.' Man? None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me or rice and beans with me to understand what the man is about. You might say the player, the competitor, but the man? You guys have abused my name. You guys have said so many things, have written so many things.
When you get out in the field, it's just like any other game. You want to be the same player, the same team that has gotten them to that point. I don't think you have to do anything special. Just be yourself and allow all the time you put in that take over and get the job done.