Sports Journey Quotes

I started to play in the fourth grade and didn't score for, like, a whole year.

I was an amateur wrestler, which I loved. It was my passion, but I started really late; I was a junior in high school when I began.

When I first went to Stevens Point, I never thought I'd ever be close to the NBA. I didn't even think about the NBA. The big start for me was making it to the final cut for the Olympic team, and I was the only one who was going to be back for my senior year of college.

When I was 21, I did not have that much pressure. I was sitting down on the bench... you know... cleaning Sir Vivian Richards's boots or doing something... getting ready to play international cricket.

I never counted on playing rugby: I was just another fat kid chasing an egg. It has gone pretty well.

When I first came into the league, my first three, four years, I had a teammate from college win a Super Bowl.

I went to my tryout in WWE, and I think within like six weeks, it was really fast for me, I was like down there, moved to Tampa, and the rest was history.

I started wrestling when I was 19 years old, and I spent my entire adult life on the road chasing this dream, and I loved it.

I played my first ever Test in Kingston in 1990. I'd just graduated from Durham University and there I was, at Sabina Park, playing Test cricket.

If you were to tell me that when I left, if I were to go to college in 2013 at U.C.L.A. and seven years from then I would be in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, I would probably laugh.

I was born in a small village in Kerala. From there, I went on to play for the Kerala state team and international test cricket for India, and now I am working in TV shows and cinema... Any miracle can happen.

As a 16-year-old, I was 5-foot-5 and maybe 145 pounds. It was hard to believe a guy like that was going to make it to the big leagues.

It wasn't until I was at 39 that I joined my first real hockey team. Which was great. I scored a couple of goals here and there, but I wasn't the most graceful thing you've ever seen.

I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn't a prodigy. I'm a late bloomer. Whatever happens, I'm proud of what I've done.

I don't know where football will take me because in football, you never know, but for sure, as a family, our home will be in London.

I feel like I was counted out, you know, my first two seasons in the NBA. They might not have been perfect, but I'm proud of them.

Essentially, my parents directed me in the right path. They were all for me turning professional and starting that journey as a family with my golf career.

And from the first time I picked up a basketball at age eight - I had a lot of difficulty when I first picked up a basketball, because I was a scrub - there were things that I liked about it.

One of the reasons I wanted to write a memoir was because I'm tired of telling my story. [Laughs] So I can say, here, read it, this is everything that happened. There are a bunch of cool stories of the transition of me becoming a receiver from a quarterback in college to being a special teams guy, a role player, to working my way to the role I've earned now.

The first pitch I played on, for my first club, Braine-le-Comte, was only a metre from our house! I progressed very quickly.

I remember starting hockey at age 7 and going to my first tryout and dreaming about how great it would be, and it's been even better. These 20 years in the NHL, it's been better.

Growing up, in my under-15 days I used to be a wicketkeeper, and that carried on till I was 17. Then I started focusing on my batting and moved on. I got into the Ranji team quite early, and generally, as a youngster, the first place you are put in is at bat-pad and short leg, so you had to work on your close-in fielding straightaway.

The 76ers hold a special place in my heart and I am intrigued by the opportunity to return to Philadelphia, where I was part of a rebuilding program, joining the team the year after it went 9-73 and going to the NBA Finals just four years later.

Lacrosse has a special place in my heart after starting my career as a lacrosse player at Penn State.

I started wrestling when I was 35, but my career didn't take off until I was 40.