Quotes from Mark Schlereth

For me, playing hurt was a battle in itself: a mind-over-matter head game I refused to lose. Often, I was barely able to bend my knees or elbows, flex my feet, make a fist, bend forward or turn my head. Heck, it hurt to blink.

Besides my work doing NFL analysis and commentary for ESPN, I'm also involved in trying to get new products launched, and I have relationships with other companies to try to get things off the ground.

In my career, I was on teams that started 11-0 and 13-0 before losing. I can tell you right now that our streak-breaking losses didn't happen because we weren't the best team on the field. The truth is, we let little things creep in: a holding call here, a false start there.

Like any offensive lineman worth his shoulder pads, I'm a mudder. Football's just not football without a healthy dose of slipping, sliding, snow, or rain.

It's no secret that in the NFL playoffs, the pressure's on. The guys who can rise above that pressure and play mistake-free when it counts the most build legends for themselves: Think Joe Montana, Tom Brady, or Adam Vinatieri.

Everyone knows that Tom Brady wasn't chosen until the sixth round of the NFL draft, after teams passed over him again and again.

Proving naysayers wrong is a powerful tool, and it can keep the fire burning for preparation that will keep you in the game of your choice for a long time.

I know I have a gigantic sweet tooth. I love candy, I love ice cream, I love anything sweet.

A successful team, in sports or business, extends from the top of management down to the guys at the bottom of the roster or organizational chart.

I wake up each night eight times a night or so because of my knee or my back or my elbow or my shoulder. If I wake up one day and am not crippled-feeling then I'm shocked like, wow, it's going to be a good day.

When that holiday party or happy hour comes along, shut her on down. Turn off the Blackberry, put your phone on silent, and go get 'em at the party. After all, you're about the only one who's earned it.

Like I always say - be where you're at. For me, that means that when I'm home with my family and the phone rings with a number I don't recognize, I don't pick it up; it could be an important call, or it could be a radio interview that I would usually make time for.

I'm a pretty accommodating person, and I want to be the best I can at my job. So if someone asked me to do an interview or something that didn't fit into my schedule, I'd basically say yes to everybody.

I've always admired guys who can go hard from the opening series, right through crunch time. It tells me they probably work hard all year long, building strength and endurance.

But size isn't everything - effort and intensity is, especially in the fourth quarter.

There's no more skilled position in football than the offensive line.

I'm not the biggest fan of New Year's resolutions, but I'm a huge backer for real life change - that's why January gets me so geeked up.

There's a lot of power in handwriting a note, and business travelers have a ton of time to do that when they're sitting in airports or on flights.

Everybody is blessed with different talents. You have to recognize those talents and treat those people right so they can come through when called upon.

Your mind wants to keep you in that rut, doing the same weight, same reps, and same exercises, never moving forward. But your body doesn't want to be stagnant.

I don't know all the inner workings of the Miami Dolphins locker room, but I do know the pain of being different, the sadness that accompanies not fitting in and the hopeless feeling of having no one to turn to, because it's part of my story as well.

Football is a game of zone blitzes, West Coast offenses and check-offs, sure, but it's really a game of field position: Even without a touchdown, a solid return game can quietly be the difference between an offense that's pinned against its own goal line and one that's in the driver's seat to score.

Guys are missing rewards and opportunities right now because they're feeling that pressure not to fail. And they're not learning about themselves because they're not failing - you're too busy patting yourself on the back to learn anything when stuff's going well.

Since I finished my football career, I've had the opportunity to do a lot of public speaking engagements.