When I was a kid I was always an athlete. I played a lot of sports. I played football basketball baseball and soccer.

A lot of athletes use sports psychologists.

Sports is a metaphor for overcoming obstacles and achieving against great odds. Athletes in times of difficulty can be important role models.

I've been a sports fan all my life and like most other actors I'm convinced I could have been a pro athlete if Hollywood hadn't come calling.

The families of many athletes - incensed at the sports leagues and hoping to make games safer overall - are increasingly making the brains of players who die prematurely and suspiciously available for study. Some athletes are even making the bequest themselves.

In the seventies we had to make it acceptable for people to accept girls and women as athletes. We had to make it okay for them to be active. Those were much scarier times for females in sports.

Americans' addiction to sports with the NFL at the top is based on the excitement generated by the potential for the unexpected great play which can only happen with honest competition from great athletes.

I look at athletes in all sports and try to picture what kind of football player they'd be what position they'd play and so on.

I don't know why people question the academic training of an athlete. Fifty percent of the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their classes.

As athletes we're used to reacting quickly. Here it's 'come stop come stop.' There's a lot of downtime. That's the toughest part of the day.

The pro athlete is a sad tale. He signs a big contract and thinks he's set for life. I didn't think I was set for life and I don't now. As athletes we are important celebrities in demand and rich. Then we are out of the game and we are not important not celebrities not in demand and not rich.

It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for to take any political stand to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for I actually get a bit offended.

The only reason we make good role models is because you guys look up to athletes and we can influence you in positive ways. But the real role models should be your parents and teachers!

Unfortunately the world is what it is now. People don't get along for whatever reason. As professional athletes in a way we're almost ambassadors for peace because sports brings everyone together.

I was a total athlete. I loved sports but when I realized I wasn't going to be a professional athlete I realized I wanted to be in movies.

If you can miss getting up in the morning and running into a wall I miss playing football. I'll never be a frustrated athlete.

I have long been one of those tedious people who rails against the coronation of 'student-athletes.' I have heard the argument that big-time athletics bring in loads of money to universities. I don't believe the money goes anywhere other than back into the sports teams but that's another story.

I have plenty of money unlike other Hollywood celebrities or athletes that have not invested well.

I've been a pretty selfish mom and a very unselfish athlete for about three years now and it's time to put my family first. It's probably time to move on.

When I'm in the gym I'm in the gym and that is my focus. But when I'm not in the gym I'm enjoying being a mom and taking care of those responsibilities .. They really do provide me with the balance that I need to be a more complete athlete.

I am very proud of my mom and consider her the most courageous woman I know. With perseverance sacrifice and hard work she raised a family of Olympic athletes and gave us the tools and the spirit to succeed. That is something that my brothers and I will always be thankful for.

I think marriage and athletes is a bad combination.

In college I never realized the opportunities available to a pro athlete. I've been given the chance to meet all kinds of people to travel and expand my financial capabilities to get ideas and learn about life to create a world apart from basketball.

It's extremely hard for athletes to accept what's happened to them sometimes. It's hard to be beaten by a small margin and I've spoken with athletes who for years afterward have been tormented by the knowledge that had they done something ever so slightly different they could have been one-ten-thousandth of a second quicker.