A competitive athlete is painful to look at; trying hard to become an animal rather than a man, he will never be as fast as a cheetah or as strong as an ox.
I think every footballer in the world wants to be on the pitch as much as possible.
As an athlete in my sport, you always want to go to an Olympics.
Being sporty at heart, I've wanted to learn football since I was a child. But I never got the chance because, growing up, my family didn't have the finances for extra-curricular activities.
To be honest with you, I always thought I was going to be in the NBA.
Some young players think that they want to be like Manuel Neuer.
To be among the world's greatest athletes and compete for Team U.S.A. while knowing that the entire world is watching is something that athletes dream about. To be able to experience that was truly special.
I am competitively aggressive. My dream since I was a young boy was to be an NFL quarterback. I am living that dream.
I'm proud of my Italian roots, and I've always believed that I would get the chance to fight for the belt.
I wanted to go somewhere and make a name for myself. I wanted to go somewhere and establish a winning culture because everybody knows about the football team. So I wanted to change the culture and make it both basketball as well as football and just give the fans what they want in Tuscaloosa.
I've always just wanted to play ball, that's all. I didn't want to do no interviews, because I didn't want to be bothered with reporters.
I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.
I could be a model for one night. But I'm also a professional soccer player, and I like to be taken seriously on the field.
My dream was to play for Chelsea - maybe I was bit naive.
Baseball is what I always wanted to do with my life.
If I make it in the NBA or wind up playing overseas, I will be at peace.
I know the blessing of having a dad who played 16 years in the league. That experience, and seeing him as an example, let me know that it's possible. It's not easy, but it's possible.
Growing up, I always dreamed of winning an NBA championship, never a gold. A gold was something that never crossed my mind.
Retiring as the champion and being the only athlete to ever do that, I think goals like that are set in the mind. I want to make that happen.
I'm just trying to stay grounded because I know what I want to do in the sport.
I want to own a team one day. You know, that's my next goal.
My goal had been to win a championship, work toward the Hall of Fame, have my jersey retired by the team and I'd go in as a lifelong New York Giant, but I'm now resigned to the fact that this won't happen.
When I look back, I only do so to see what I've done in my past - my gold medals and the Championships that I've won. Really, I just look to the future and hopefully winning even more.
I'm a footballer, that's my job and that's all I want to be known for.
I thought at first I was going to be an NFL quarterback. I played until I was a freshman in high school.
