Emmitt Smith Quotes

Like many professional footballers, I have the legacy of injuries picked up over my career but the effect on my day-to-day training and on matchday is non-existent.

I mean, I don't really remember playing a full season ever being 100 percent.

Only in football is long-term injury the result not of accidents but of the game played properly.

Ask any athlete: We all hurt at times. I'm asking my body to go through seven different tasks. To ask it not to ache would be too much.

I've decided to listen to my doctors and get the procedure I need on my knee. USA Basketball said I had to do what was best for me. They want me to be obviously as healthy as possible so I can continue to play this game at a high level.

After my first day of competition I put on compression socks. They help me recover for the next day.

There's no doubt about it; playing football and how tough it is on the body afterwards.

I did enjoy football, but the injury factor for me, you know, I had so many issues. I don't know how long my career would've been.

I've always known that sporting people frequently suffer from joint problems because of the repeated strain they put on their bodies to get to the top. But somehow I never thought it would happen to me.

I never had a serious injury that kept me out of a big competition. Now everyone has injuries - to their feet or their knees or their backs.

I wish there was a season where I was playing and didn't have no aches, no pains, no bruises, no nothing.

Truth is, none of us professional athletes are ever 100 percent healthy. We just decide what we're going to tape up and push through without making it worse.

During the course of a 16-game season, everybody, in the end, is injured. It's almost as if pieces just get broken off, and you give up pieces or an appendage every year.

These big jumps take a big toll on the body, especially a young body. So, it's kind of risk or reward, I guess.

I loved football. I'm so glad I played. But I didn't think it was wise for me to play longer.

There's going to be wear and tear on your body; that's just the nature of the sport, no matter if you're a rookie or if you're 10 years deep in the league.

Every football player has their own journey and unfortunately my injuries were out of my hands. There wasn't much I could have done about that except rehab to the best of my ability which I did.

I would have liked to have played more but injuries are part and parcel of football and you've got to shoulder it, got to take it on and get on with it.

My thing of not playing offensive tackle is the health issue. I don't want to be that big. That could end up not being good for your health.

People think I'm soft and bailed out on basketball. But it was five knee surgeries.

You can't do WWE forever; like, your body will just not hold up.

Tennis is such a physically demanding sport, and it can be so rough on the body at the pro level.

I played the game for 20 years, and I think that kept me on the football field, being adjusted. Getting hit so many times, being all out of whack, and going in to see my chiropractor kept me back on the football field.

I mean, every player is hurt every year, so that's not really an excuse for everything.

We never want anything bad to happen, especially to an athlete like Jon Jones.