Matt Gaetz Quotes

I play football, and most football players are camera shy. We just want to be left alone; we just want to stick to what we do.

The doors fly open when you're a professional athlete.

Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and I used to argue for hours about who the best athletes are. I thought football players were better overall.

Top-flight football players are a strange bunch.

There are many good players, in Italy and abroad.

I've met lots of footballers like Alan Shearer, David Beckham, and Steven Gerrard. I don't really get starstruck because I just think they're another footballer like me; they just get paid a lot more.

I had a great interest in sports. I had three older brothers who were great athletes. I was not.

I really love the Olympics: Daley Thompson's back-flip, Derek Redmond's father helping him finish the 400m after his hamstring snapped at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Sir Steve Redgrave - childhood memories are flooded with these moments and idols.

Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.

While I'm not a celebrity, it's such a weird concept that society has cooked up for us. Astronauts and teachers are much more amazing than actors.

The RAF allowed me to play a lot of football, but like England later, they failed to recognise real talent when it was under their noses.

When I came on the tour, I thought, 'Why don't they treat tennis players the same way they look at football players?' Because I've got news for you: when they are on the pitch, they are not saying, 'Hello, how are you?' out there.

There have been so many great players that I've played with, that I've played against over the years.

I would hope there would be a greater appreciation by casual sports fans of the incredible skill and passion of our players.

I always had a concept of watching great players, great goalkeepers.

Do I like most footballers? Not really. Joe Hart, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Joleon Lescott, Gabby Agbonlahor and a group of the guys at Villa - good people.

I don't jump as high and I'm not as fast as Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. I don't have many highlight plays, but I can play this game.

I think most of the people like the kind of player like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. They're pretty tall, and they can do everything.

Ronaldo certainly scores goals, but I do too. He certainly scores more than I do, but we don't have the same style.

Players like Rio Ferdinand and Patrick Vieira have supported me, and I just want to say thank you.

Football is a tough game. It's a tough game for tough people.

I don't think anybody in any sport ever sucks. You're an athlete. You're a professional.

When Dad looked at football players, he would take them in his own image. That's what he grew up around; that's what he was when he was a master sergeant in the Korean War. That's what I took, and that's what I want on my football team.

I've played lacrosse players, football players, basketball players. I think that's just because of how I'm built. I look young, and I'm also a big person.

I know from my Real Madrid team-mates Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira and my family in Andalucia that people look up to me in Spain.