Matt Barnes Quotes

There's far more that goes into being a professional athlete than being a college athlete. So many differences that people don't realize. It's not just about playing football and getting paid to do it. There's a lot of things that you have to deal with.

Football is very hard, and people see only the nice part of the job.

Tennis is a full-time job and not just the two hours that people see when we're on the court.

Every Olympic athlete prepares differently. For me, I am 100 percent into the sport. And if I decide to really make a crucial career decision to say, 'This is something I want to do,' I want to leave no stone unturned in my preparation.

People turn professional and they are not running as fast as they did in college because it is a lot different, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't have that kind of transition and always stayed on top.

When you become an athlete, you live in this bubble. You're in the world, but you're not in the world.

The majority of fighters and athletes live double lives.

People only see you on TV and riding around like stars, but they don't see behind the scenes how much time you have to put in working out. The lifting, the eating habits, trying to change all that so you can be that guy on TV, to be a baller, that's what people don't understand.

People really don't understand how hard it is and what it takes to be a WWE Superstar.

People just have no idea how strange and surreal a football life can be.

It's not easy to be a footballer.

When we have a ball at our feet, we footballers are delighted, but what happens behind the scenes is not always all that pretty.

Fights aren't won in the octagon, they're won in the months leading up to them, in a near-empty gym, in the lost hours of a day, whether I feel like it or not.

Boxing, mixed martial arts and tennis are the hardest sports to train for.

When I was playing I never wished I was doing anything else. I think being a professional athlete is the finest thing a man can do.

The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.

Athletics at the highest level is a sport within a sport.

The holidays are important, but the path I've chosen doesn't take that into consideration. I do what I can to enjoy them, but it's one of the sacrifices of being an athlete.

Ninety percent of hockey is mental and the other half is physical.

Boxing has been the most difficult thing I've ever done. The biggest challenge in my life. I was a boxer. That was hard. Everything else is pretty easy.

I have great admiration for athletes. They are just like actors in a lot of ways. They have tremendous pressures and conflicts. They have to compete, and they can't stay home just because they have a head cold.

The big picture is the Trials and Olympics. I just have to keep focused for that, keep moving forward.

When I got to professional ball I used to play 150 games every year. It depends on how many games there was.

I would advise all youths aspiring to athletic fame or a professional career to practice clean living, fair play and good sportsmanship.

As a competitive gymnast, my life has always been filled with challenges that would ultimately define my future. From day one, I was taught to be prepared at all costs.