Adam Thielen Quotes

I was a two-star athlete. I got looked over.

I always thought that I could play football at the college level.

I chose Tennessee because I thought they'd give me an opportunity to play.

If football had always been my main goal then I would have gone to some scholarship school; I could have gotten more exposure there.

The University of Notre Dame does not redshirt, and I endorse that policy completely. I am very much in favor of redshirting, but not at Notre Dame. But there's no doubt about it. It puts us at a huge disadvantage.

I was a defensive lineman coming out of high school who was considered amongst the top... maybe the top six guys, top five guys, and wanted to prove to my team that I was going to be a top guy going into college.

I wanted to play football all my life, and when I got accepted to Florida State, it was academically - it wasn't for any kind of scholarship. I kind of sat down and said, 'I'm not going to make it to the NFL. I'm not the size nor the skill.'

Rookies are also coming in from college programs as big stars, whereas when we came in, we were just happy to be there. We were happy to be playing in a big gym, to be on television, to be playing in America.

I was going from Furman to the University of Georgia. I transferred to play football.

My dream was to play football at Notre Dame more than anything.

I would advise that if you can get out on loan and play football, it is the best path to go down.

Having a father as a football and a baseball coach, I grew up around college baseball players, college football players, like, I just knew sports my whole life.

I thought I was doing very well at Florida. Then I get suspended. Then my head coach tells me to transfer.

Coaching in college is not a right. It's a privilege.

I had more offers in football than baseball.

I was a Division III kid whose dad wasn't a coach.

I've given it all from my combine to my pro day to my meetings with teams.

Don't worry too much on pathways programs: good players find a way to get through to play for their country.

I don't know how Coach Saban found me all the way in Hawaii from Alabama.

Notre Dame was my dream school growing up. But in recruiting, they had some other plans, what position they wanted me to play.

Considering the relatively brief careers of professional athletes, teenagers who are good enough to play at the highest level should be able to exploit that market.

Central Michigan was the one FBS team that recruited me hard.

If we have somebody who may be ranked a little higher than another person, if one of them wants to be a Buckeye, wants to play in that rivalry game, play in the Horseshoe, that matters to us. We take all those things into consideration and we try to be as aggressive as we can on the recruiting trail.

The opportunity to play in the Big Ten was one that I could not pass up.

Coming out of high school, however, I wasn't a decorated recruit. As a result, I found myself one month from signing day with only two scholarship offers and they were from the Mid-American Conference.