Per Mertesacker Quotes

…burrhead

Sammy Lee is another inbred player

My teammates, they kid me all the time. My nickname is the doctor or the president in the locker room.

Tell Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'

They are always telling us that Carolina Blue is not a color, that it is really Columbia blue or sky blue. But there is no bad blood amongst the teammates. All of our kidding is in good fun.

We all laughed. It was more like that whole thing that I was talking about earlier. You go to training camp and after the season is over, you might not see the guys for six months until you go back to training camp.

Believe it or not, one teacher used to call me a giant spastic for not being able to play football.

Once I'm at the arena with the guys in the dressing room, and in the bus, and on the plane, I'm a player. And I sit in the back with the players and I play cards and try to take their money.

I ain't never called nobody no redskin. I've never been mad, like, 'Get out of this restaurant, you redskin.'

When I got to the senior national team, there was another Ronaldo, so they started calling me Ronaldinho because I was younger.

You should only get AIDS and die, you pig.

Mongolian Savages

I've heard things said on football pitches that players clearly don't mean, whether it's racism or just an abusive comment in the heat of the moment.

You cannot treat someone differently just because they have become captain. We still took the mickey out of Alastair Cook when he was in charge. You have to treat them first and foremost as a team-mate.

Places like Wrexham and Southport, when there are not that many people there, were tough. You are a young lad, and you're having abuse hurled at you.

Sarri is a racist, and men like him should be drummed out of football.

It is hard to enjoy life in a national team.

I get racist letters all the time from people who aren't Bradford City supporters. You just laugh at them, tear them up and throw them in the bin.

I was warming up with a couple of team-mates. We were all coloured and there were monkey chants. There were about 10 of them doing it. I didn't know what to do. It had never happened to me before. I told my coach and he went mad.

With every side I've played for, I've always tried to fit in and joke with my team mates while enjoying good times with them on and off the pitch. And that's what's happened with Les Bleus.

I remember going to stadiums and huge sections of the stand gave you racial abuse. It was never nice but it wasn't a surprise - particularly when I was first at Spurs.

The best part of being with the Warriors has been the team camaraderie, the team meals, the team pranks, the bond we share.

People think racist abuse stops on the football pitch, but that's just the beginning. When you go home, you are still confronted with it. Football is just a magnifying glass of the real world.

I was used to football supporters hammering me and I thought my name was Graham Potter-Boo at one point.

I just think it's great in cricket to come into a team environment. It's the first time I've ever experienced it.