A Quote by Kyle Walker
I got my first taste of real professional football on loan at Northampton. I was 18 at the time, and I played only nine games, but it was a massive opportunity for me.
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I played football for a team called the East Dragons on the east side of town. We only had six regular season games. And six games I played tail back and I had 18 touchdowns in six games. That's when I knew I had some athletic ability.
There are a lot of guys who football is all they have. And I love football to death, it got me here, it's what I've been doing since I was nine years old, but football ends at a point in time and you've got to be prepared for life after football.
When I first got to college, in my mind, I was going to end up playing professional football. When I tell people this story, they always end up laughing, and I chuckle about it at my own expense. I was a big fan of American football; I played in high school, and I ended up earning the opportunity to play in college.
Al Davis has been the biggest influence in my professional football life. I mean, he was a guy that gave me an opportunity, one, to get into professional football in 1967 as an assistant coach, and then at the age of 32, giving me the opportunity to be the head coach.
I played for Middlesbrough's youth team. At the age of 16, I went into a shed at the training ground and was told that they weren't signing me on, so that was the end of that dream. Football was my life. I played football when I got to school, football every break and football as soon as I got home.
Dagenham offered me a two-year opportunity really. It wasn't a pro deal, just a chance to impress. I was sent out on loan straight away. I got a professional contract on the back of that and it wasn't until I started scoring in League Two that I actually realized, 'I'm professional footballer.'
I started lower down the leagues with Coventry, so I'd had that taste of first-team action at a young age. I'd already played 40 or 50 games before moving on, and when I got to Norwich, I had to bide my time at the start.
When I went to Real Madrid, I was only 18 or 19 years old. It was my first year as a professional footballer. I was very young.
The first time I ever got paid to play was 1/18/99, Fire Hall in Bordentown, New Jersey. Played first on the bill - we got paid $20!
My dad has always been involved in football, as both a manager and a player, although only at the amateur and semi-professional level. He was quite successful in our local area and definitely had a massive influence on me and my football development growing up.
Any game is important to me. At Boston College, when I went out for the spring games, I wanted to win. Maybe it is more important than other preseason games. It's just that everyone is expecting a lot from me in my first week of professional football. I want to confirm my expectations.
I went to Northampton on loan, it was long ball, not really my style. It was hard for me to make a mark.
Bill Belichick is the best professional football coach I think ever lived. I'm upset that I played for a plethora of teams and never got an opportunity to play for Bill Belichick.
Not only do you have 16 regular-season games, you also have four preseason games. Then if you make the playoffs, you can have four more games before you get to the Super Bowl. So you can already have 24 games without the 18-game season. And 24 games takes a real toll on somebody's body.
We played a lot of sandlot ball, so we were used to tackling each other, or falling on the concrete, things of that nature. And nine times out of 10, our flag games turned into tackle anyway. So when I got to high school, tackle football was kind of natural.
Before Bolton I played for Real Madrid and I was getting involved in the first-team training since I was 16 and then I played with the first team at 18.
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