Tony Gonzalez Quotes

My parents never discouraged me. There were a couple times when my dad criticized a couple things that I did, but it was nothing. So through the bad shows, I never wanted to quit.

You have to believe in your process. You have to believe in the things that you are doing to help the team win. I think you have to take the good with the bad.

I got to the big leagues when I was 20. I thought I had it all figured out. Went to spring training that next year and started off well, got sent down, and I pouted pretty much all of 2000. And it wasn't the right way to handle it.

You can be angry and pissed off at the coach and put your head down and pout. Or you can rise above it, respect the decision, but also know that you're going to go and work that much harder and prove everybody wrong. And that's the road that I chose.

I tried, it was hard, I quit, the end. Story of my life.

One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.

When I was 12, I had a coach tell me I would never be a championship pitcher. That devastated me. I was crushed.

Failure is a word that I simply don't accept.

We will all fail in life, but nobody has to be a failure. Failing at a thing doesn't make you a failure. You are only a failure when you quit trying.

I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it.

You go up for hundreds, thousands of roles, and you get told no, no, no, so many times.

An incident that left an impression on me was the 1999 sub-junior national boxing championship held in Calcutta. I had trained extremely hard to get there but got kicked out in the first round itself. 'If others can win, why can't you?' I repeatedly asked myself.

I just never, ever want to give up. Most battles are won in the 11th hour, and most people give up. If you give up once, it's quite hard. If you give up a second time, it's a little bit easier. Give up a third time, it's starting to become a habit.

Sometimes when you get disappointment it makes you stronger.

I never doubted that I would work, and every time I went to an audition, I went into the room with the knowledge that I was going to get the part. Ninety-nine times out of 100, I didn't.

There's always something to suggest that you'll never be who you wanted to be. Your choice is to take it or keep on moving.

I'm talking to anyone who has been dumped - have not gotten the job you really wanted or have received those horrible rejection letters from grad school. You know, the disappointment of losing, or not getting something you badly want. When that happens, show what you are made of.

I knocked a lot of guys out from the seventh round on - so if I gave up, I would never have achieved what I did. There was no giving up. It's weak to give up. The easiest thing in the world is to quit.

If people ridicule you, look them in the eye and say, 'Yeah, I may have failed, but at least I tried,' and get on with it.

I grew up with a marine grandfather. I was never allowed to say 'can't' or 'no', and I was never allowed to back down.

You can't let injuries dictate the outcome of a football game. You have to persevere and keep fighting. That is how we are. If there is a blade of grass to defend or take, we do it.

When I have criticism that I feel is unfair, the rejection does disturb me, but it also strengthens me. I used to get turned down for all sorts of jobs. I used to writhe in pain, but then I would say, 'Good. Good. I will get stronger for this.'

I had a lot of negative comments, but it made me stronger and made me want to do more in my game. It made me more determined if anything.

Me getting cut from Toronto that first year, definitely helped with the ego. It was deflating. Some people either quit or some people get hungry.

We don't always get our respect but you've got to deal with it and go out there every week and just win football games.