Quotes from Tony Gonzalez

I love Oprah, she's my hero in terms of a lot of things - what's not to love about Oprah? When I look at Oprah, I see all heart. She's wide open.

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.

It didn't seem fair that no matter how many passes I caught or how many touchdowns I scored, I was considered a 'lowly tight end' and would never be paid anywhere close to a salary as high as the elite wide receivers.

I'm a big podcast guy, I have my own podcast called 'Wide Open.'

Adversity in life teaches you.

Dealing with bullies when I was in sixth and seventh grade has made me a better football player, believe it or not. You have to come to a point when you're like, 'I've had enough, and I'm not going to be kicked around and pushed around anymore.'

There aren't many football players other than kickers who are Latin.

I don't eat a lot of fast food and I stay stay away from fried foods. I don't eat much meat either.

It doesn't matter that I play football. Anybody can make a difference in life.

I want to be a Chief. I want to be a Chief for life.

When I first started playing in a youth football league, I was the worst kid on the team. I quit the first year. And then the next year, I was still the worst kid - I didn't even play.

I like seeing people achieve great things.

We were a single-parent household for a while. It was just my mom, me, and my brother. We were on welfare for about a year and a half. But I remember my mom never complained, and we never wanted for anything. She always made ends meet and she's been the rock for the family. She instilled in me work ethic and toughness.

I could have played in the NBA. I would have put up 1,000 jump shots a day. I've got that type of work ethic.

I have soaked this league up for everything it's worth. I've had fun. Made some great relationships. I don't regret anything. Don't regret being in Kansas City. It's all been very good to me. So why would I take that approach? There will be no pity party thrown here.

I'm so interested in people's journeys and what makes them tick, the movers and shakers.

When I got to the NFL, they asked me what number I wanted, and I said No. 44, but they told me tight ends are not allowed to have that number. So I said, 'Just double it up for me if you can' and took No. 88. I figured I'd be twice as good as I was.

When I go down to Mexico now, it's not quite like I'm in Kansas City, but maybe it's like when I'm in Atlanta the way I get recognized. That gives me a lot of pride.

I have a recurring role on 'NCIS' and that's been a lot of fun.

When I came into the league trying to party and having too much of a good time, I found out the hard way how it affected my performance.

My mom and stepdad had such open hearts, they taught me to like bringing people into my home. I'm not guarded about it.

I try to be me. I don't have anything to hide.

I believe in a higher power. Some people out there don't.

I think when you give, that's probably the highest form of living. It's better than almost any feeling you could think of. It's way better than scoring touchdowns to me.