David Haye Quotes

If you're going to dedicate every second to winning the decathlon, what are you doing wasting your time in bed?

I'd say the most memorable thing for me was my dedication and motivation in how I got so involved in boxing.

I do like athletes as they have amazing self-discipline.

I grew up doing gymnastics. It requires discipline, eating right, getting sleep, lots of sacrifice. But the pros outweigh the sacrifice.

I am much more wired to be an athlete than anything else. I understand the 'hard work = payoff' equation in sports. I run marathons and I box. And that's my Puerto Rican flag hanging in Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing gym. I gave it to him. My last N.Y.C. marathon time I ran in three hours flat.

I really appreciate the sport background because the structure and the discipline that that gives a person is incredible, and it just carries with you wherever you go.

Athletes are sort of part of the community at large. They have to be dedicated to what they do, and go through lots of peaks and valleys. And there's a lot of training that goes into their careers. It's a struggle. Very dramatic.

Sports is my passion.

In football, I need full concentration even though I really enjoy it.

I have my parents to thank for that, they raised me to be active and play all sports. They taught me the importance of staying healthy, being focused and setting goals in whatever I do.

I missed being considered an athlete and having that competitive drive, and missed having something to work for every day. I'd taken two and a half years away from the sport and was out of shape. I wanted to get back to where I was in 2008.

Athletes are very cool to me.

You must respect people and work hard to be in shape. And I used to train very hard. When the others players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.

Tennis has given me soul.

I'm glad that I ran track in high school. I think it paid off.

I think exercise tests us in so many ways, our skills, our hearts, our ability to bounce back after setbacks. This is the inner beauty of sports and competition, and it can serve us all well as adult athletes.

Football rewards the guys that are in great condition.

I always wanted to be an athlete growing up.

I spent my whole life playing sports and training and pushing myself to the limits.

I push myself to the limit to do what I most like doing, which is playing football.

I want to play football for 20 more years. And then coach for 45 years after that.

I grew up playing softball, and at the age of nine, I decided I was going to be an Olympian. I didn't really know what that meant at the time. I thought it might be in a warm summer sport like softball, but I played a variety of sports growing up - basketball, soccer and track. I really didn't care. I just wanted to be an Olympian.

I have been an athlete for much of my life starting at the age of 4.

Individually, I am very happy because I can play in every game. I can be on the pitch and do what I like to do, which is play football.

At 15, I went to boxing. That's when I really wanted to be a champion, so that gave me a goal in life, so it kept me focused on training instead of other things.