Sid Gillman Quotes

We're not running the ball again until we get ahead. Shula was calling the plays, but I told them, 'I don't care what he calls. We're throwing every pass from now until we get the lead.' To Shula's credit, he always gave me that option.

It was not that long ago when the accepted wisdom in football was that the running game had to be established - that was always the obligatory verb: established - before passes could become effective. My, we know how that has changed. Now the pass is established from the get-go, and running is an afterthought.

A quarterback is always going to be the most valuable player on a football field because he touches the ball every single offensive play.

Tight ends, third down, and the red zone is where you kind of need to stand out to be a very good tight end in this league.

When you can get o-linemen guessing about what you're going to do, that means you're already winning before you start.

Sometimes, they do a great job covering everyone downfield, so you just have to checkdown and hit a tight end to convert. That's just how we play ball.

In football, time and space are the same thing.

The most deceptive course in football is straight at the goalposts.

I'll make changes at receiver before I make a change at the quarterback.

I could never understand why they did that to Barry Sanders in Detroit. I know that's one of the reasons why he retired, because they took him out on third down and let someone else catch the ball. I thought they must be out of their mind because Barry is such a threat.

Everybody thinks when I say a guy is a good game manager, that's a negative, but I think it's a real positive. You have the ball in your hand every time when you're a quarterback. Whether you're handing it off or throwing to somebody, I think that's extremely important.

You have to learn the playbook inside and out. You have to learn code words for each play. You have to learn defenses.

There's a lot to it, but the bottom line as a receiver is to run the right route, get open and make plays.

The way Guardiola plays suits me. It enables me to get into space in attacking positions.

At some point, you're not going to be able to run the ball for 180 yards, even with the best running back in the NFL. That's when you have to be able to throw the ball.

Football is about scoring, and if you want to do that, you have to go forward.

One of the things I'd bring to Villa if I was in charge is the idea that winning is important in football, but winning while playing offensive football is the best of all.

What made me so different is they would use me all over the place instead of the traditional tight end where you're taking off right next to the left tackle or right tackle. They would split me out wide and put everybody on the other side and throw me jump balls, they'd throw slants.

A defensive coordinator is always going to try to throw you something different and get you out of your element, and I have to do better with the pass protection.

You've got one football and a lot of times, defenses dictate where the ball goes.

The little bit of my Brazilian side in Azzurri is perhaps to play more with the ball on the ground and have the tranquility to hold the ball. The idea is to have more control of the game.

If you have a good midfield, you have a good team.

Ideally, if you ask most tight ends, they would say we want the defender on us early. The reason for that is we feel like, for one, we know where we're going. Two, we can attack leverage, it declares itself if it's truly man coverage. We can work the release.

What quarterback doesn't like some speed on the outside?

I think first and foremost, you've got to be able to run the football to be successful in college football. Some teams have thrown the ball 60 times a game and had success doing that. But I think you've got to be able to run the football to have success.