A Quote by Eric Dickerson

In the NFL, you have a short shelf life. As a running back, if you're the first pick, and you're NFL life expectancy is only 3.5-6 years, your first big contract might not come until three years in - well, you might never get there. They need to get those signing bonuses up front because nothing is guaranteed.
So to me, life is more than just money and making it to the NFL. Life's about memories, life is about experiences, and I feel like when players just plug in for three years and run to the NFL as quickly as they can, I feel like they're, without knowing it until they get older, taking themselves away from a really good memory.
When guys talk about going to the league in college, they're thinking about flash and bling. But my first taste of the NFL was a relatively small non-guaranteed contract, a crappy room at an extended stay hotel and a sense of panic every time my phone rang because it might be the cut guy.
If you're not a first-round pick or you're not 6-2, they always say you can't be the best. But the only time there's a weight class is before the draft. This is the NFL. It's all about what you do. I can run past guys and get done what I need to. I can do everything the big guy can do.
When you get released from the NFL it's not a pleasant experience and I may have sulked for about two or three years. Then I was like, 'You know what? It's time to get back on the wagon.' I have nothing to be ashamed of.
Getting 1,000 yards in the NFL is an amazing accomplishment, and being the first rookie ever for the Giants to do that is even a bigger one. It's big because even though my name might go in the record book, it's not just myself - it's the offensive line play and the guys in the running back room, all those guys have been a tremendous help.
The NFL is the only sport where you can be on a team five years, and your contract's not guaranteed. You can go through the whole process of training camp, and then as soon as it's the season, it's a week-to-week job, and they can cut you at any moment, or you can get hurt at any moment. It's not like that in other sports.
In the NFL they talk about "contracts," but it's not really a contract, it's a one year agreement. If you have a 10 year contract, it means nothing. If you get cut in the NFL, you get nothing. People don't talk about that.
In the NFL they talk about 'contracts,' but it's not really a contract, it's a one year agreement. If you have a 10 year contract, it means nothing. If you get cut in the NFL, you get nothing. People don't talk about that.
My first two years in the CFL, all I thought of was getting back to the NFL - it was like 'I'll put my time in up here and go back.' Then I went and signed a nice contract in Calgary and was like, 'Hey, I can make a living up here, this is great football, and I'm having a blast.'
My first two years in the CFL, all I thought of was getting back to the NFL - it was like 'I'll put my time in up here and go back.' Then I went and signed a nice contract in Calgary and was like, 'Hey, I can make a living up here, this is great football, and I'm having a blast.
You dream of your first NFL start when you're a little kid, playing football in the backyard, but until you get there, you never know what to expect.
As an NFL analyst, my job was to watch countless hours of game film and critique NFL coaches and that's what I've been doing the last 10 years. And there are coaches that I question in the NFL, and at other big collegiate institutions.
That was very appreciative because all the players vote for that. That's the highest award anyone can get in the NFL. Every team in the NFL votes for the most valuable player. I was injured. I had appendicitis the first part of the season, but I came back after ten days. Nobody came back that early. No player wants to sit on the bench. No player wants to be inactive. Everybody wants to play.I came back in ten days. I had the uniform on and played. I played those next games until I got kicked in the head.
When I go back to NFL functions today, I feel a bit on the outside looking in. I played 13 years in the NFL, and I loved it - made a Pro Bowl and went to the playoffs - but I always felt like I was having to knock the door down to get in.
I wasn't supposed to run as much as I did in the NFL. But it turned out that all that scrambling I had done in college became necessary in the NFL. It wasn't by design. It was because I was running for my life!
You don't realize how long that NFL season is. It's a long season, especially in your first year. Not only do you spend a lot of time preparing for the draft and working out, but they you have OTAs, minicamps, training camp, preseason games. By the time you get to week six you've already had one of the longest years of your football life and you still have 11 weeks to go, plus the playoffs.
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