Quotes About Athletics

I used to play football for Real Madrid, and to be on stage for two hours, I can tell you it takes the same amount of strength.

In 1981, at age 31, I was voted the best player in basketball, and the most valuable player in the league.

I remember when I was 6 years old and my brother used to go seek out guys that were 13 to come over and play football against me while he was the 'permanent quarterback.' I didn't know exactly what the age difference was, but I was already playing against older guys.

It's just that with Drew there with me, I have someone to keep me going and to push me on, so that I run harder than I would have alone.", Loving Summer by Kailin Gow

There's a ball. There's a hoop. You put the ball through the hoop. That's success.

Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled.

In athletics there's always been a willingness to cheat if it looks like you're not cheating. I think that's just a quirk of human nature.

Coach John Wooden [UCLA] taught me that sports wasn't just about making us better athletes, but about making us better people. Compassion, kindness, and morality were more important than a championship season. Fame wasn't an accomplishment, it was an opportunity to show our gratitude to the community that we are a part of by changing it for the better.

Some guys usually get intimidated by my forehand.

Not a lot of people get into Brock Lesnar like I did. Brock is every bit as intimidating as you'd imagine he would be times two. No, I mean, he's a shaved gorilla. It's just, he's stronger than strong. I don't even think he even realizes how strong he is.

First and foremost, I loved basketball. My dad introduced me to basketball when I was a baby.

When I was growing up, I was always outside. I think that's helped me, as far as athletics go, but to improve in anything, you just have to invest time.

When you're so physically and emotionally invested in something - like you have to be in MMA - there's nothing like having your friends and family there to support you on fight night.

We are a rugby family really. My dad and both granddads played rugby. Dad was good, on his way to Bath until he broke his leg. My brother Harry got an invitation to go and play for Bristol. I go and watch Sale Sharks and have been to Twickenham a few times.

Gaelic football is a very Irish sport, which I played.

When I came to the high-performance arena, I was kind of a one-off in a lot of ways. I was as much an iron man as much as I was a cricketer. Having surfed, fished, hunted, that was just a natural thing.

The Isaac Chilemba fight was draining.

Sadly, this problem of steroid use is not isolated to baseball.

English football is very different from Italian; it's more physical, and matches are always very open.

Juventus are one of Europe's and Italy's big teams.

I don't think the itch to fight has ever left me, ever. I mean, I got paid to do what I love for a living, and I got paid very well to do it. So that's going to always be there. That's always going to be like, 'Man, I wouldn't mind getting out there again.'

If I win the gold medal, I will be set for the rest of my life. The medal itself doesn't give you anything, but it makes you a marketable item. You take it and see what you can do.

Watching two men jib and jab for 12 rounds is not entertaining for me. I want action, knockouts, big shots, and people getting up off the canvas. That's my ideal fight.

It's great to win the British title. I wanted to control the fight behind my jab and then land the right hand.