I'm confident enough to say I was better than my mates! But with the different competitions I did play with some good players, who didn't make it for whatever reason. I was lucky enough to be able to do what I love, and my mates have continued to play at a lower level and really enjoy it, I know that's exactly what I'd be doing if I wasn't here today.
If you look at Arsenal today, I really enjoy watching them play - they play some really good football - but that is not enough to win football matches or to win competitions. But in our time, we were winning, and we had the strength to not play well but somehow manage to win the game 1-0.
I thought those three years when we won championships, I really was good enough to play in the All-Star game. I felt I deserved to be in the top whatever that would be, the top 20-some players in the league. Really felt that comfortable and confident on the basketball court.
Prescription for Life-long Happiness: Purpose enough for satisfaction; Work enough for sustenance; Sanity enough to know when to play and rest; Wealth enough for basic needs; Affection enough to like many and love a few; Self-respect enough to love yourself; Charity enough to give to others in need; Courage enough to face difficulties; Creativity enough to solve problems; Humor enough to laugh at will; Hope enough to expect an interesting tomorrow; Gratitude enough to appreciate what you have; Health enough to enjoy life for all its worth.
Every club if I am not playing, I leave because I want to play football. All I wanted to do since I was a kid is play football and if I wasn't at a club I'd be playing with my mates on a Sunday. I still come home and play five-a-side with my mates.
I was a really good ice hockey player when I was a kid. Now in the aftermath I think I wasn't maybe big enough, and I couldn't have put on enough muscle to actually be able to play with the better guys, but I was a really good skater.
I love what I do and I'm super confident in it, but I also think of myself as humble in it. It's not better than what anyone else is doing, but I'm doing the best job of being exactly who I am, and doing what I want to do today. It feels so good to me that it doesn't really matter what it means to other people because that's more about them than me. I'm in a really great place with it.
I was never on a mission to be an NFL quarterback. I wanted to be a good high school player, and I worked hard at that. That made me good enough to play in college and then I wanted to be a good college quarterback. During college I played well enough to make it into the NFL. I never took it for granted and really wanted to play hard at each level and I have always had a lot of fun doing what I wanted to do.
There is a common mistake people make. They say, 'We need to play the young English boys.' Of course, but only if they are good. How can you measure that? If they are playing with good players and if they can fit into the level of the good players. That's why, because of the level of the Premier League, England has so many talented players.
My parents were opera singers. I didn't want to play opera because I wasn't good enough. I didn't want to play their music; I wanted to play the music that I wanted to play, and I'm so lucky that today I get to play that music, even though I don't like every song I write.
I just I love telling stories and as long as I can make my living doing that in all the different mediums that I have been lucky enough to, that's enough for me.
When I joined Newcastle, at the beginning it was difficult. During pre-season, there was no Ramadan and I also didn't score then. So it's a myth. It was about getting into the team, knowing the players better and how they play. My team-mates also have to understand how I play and move.
I watch films. I play the guitar: me and some mates - I wouldn't dignify it with the term band - get together and play.
I had a coach when I was getting recruited say maybe you should play basketball at a Division III level, because you're not good enough to play football in college.
No producer should revive a play unless they have a very good reason for it. I think there's quite enough about a good play to make it available to new audiences.
I watch films. I play the guitar: me and some mates - I wouldnt dignify it with the term band - get together and play.
Being on a low-budget film is difficult enough, and you may as well be working on something that you really believe in and you really love, and for me, that's to play different characters, to play different roles, and challenge myself.