Athletic Humility Quotes

I'm not one of these guys who is going to build myself up to you for an over and put myself over. I do my talking in the ring.

I don't think I'm a home run hitter. Most of my home runs are line drives. If I hit it, thanks God. But it's not the kind of thing that I think about. I just go out there and try to have a better season than I had before. Home runs are not in my mind.

In high school, I was the best broad jumper on our team, and I kind of thought that when I got to MIT, I'd probably still be the best broad jumper, 'cause why do broad jumpers come to MIT? But it turned out to actually be the other way around. There was another person in my class who could jump about 3 feet further than I could.

If I really felt like I was the world's greatest athlete, I'd get 10 great events. But I know that's pretty much not possible. That's the toughness of the decathlon.

I'm not trying to get five medals. I'm not trying to be Michael Phelps.

I'm not a big fan of the gym, I do lots of outdoor aerobics - yoga, swimming, running - but I kinda hate talking about it. We have a term in Australia, it makes you sound like a wanker.

I let my game speak for itself.

I don't think there is a perfect athlete. But if I had to come close to picking someone who demonstrates all the traits that I feel an athlete should have, I would say the perfect athlete would be Tiger Woods. He has the ability, he's humble and he's very good at what he does.

One of the great mistakes that can be made by a man of my age is to get involved in athletic competition with children-unless, of course, they are under six. And even then, stay away from hide-and-seek.

In hindsight, I'd love to be undefeated still, but that's not what this sport is.

It's great to be compared to someone of the stature of Gareth Bale, but I'm happy to be Ryan Sessegnon.

I was very, very shocked about Cooperstown. I thought my chances were fairly good, but I tried to stay low key about it, not too high and not too low. That was the way I played, too.

Soccer can be very subtle; it's a very nuanced sport. If I happen to make things easy and people don't see it, that could be a reason why someone might stand out more than I do. But that's just the way I've grown up playing the game.

I think I've always had a decent perspective on wins and losses on the tennis court.

I know what makes me good, and it's not a bat.

I don't linger on the fact that Dawn Fraser was a great swimmer 40 years ago. That was in the past. I did break 41 world records, but I don't live on that today.

When I am in my India jersey, I don't want to be looking glamorous.

I've always gotten credit for being a big man who doesn't want to shoot threes. Throughout my entire basketball career prior to coming to the NBA, I was praised for doing that.

I've always been an underrated passer.

Name 12 players better than me.

Although I'm a scratch Ping-Pong player, there is no possibility of me beating a top professional.

I let my game do the talking. I've had incidents like that but when I compare my own story to the stories that have happened forty or fifty years ago particularly to Jackie Robinson for example.

I'm a decent table tennis player, but if you were to put me up against any of the guys you see on television at the Olympics, I'd be lucky to get a couple of points.