Jason Witten
I have a lot of respect for every opponent. I don't know if there's just one who I say, 'that guy intimidates me.' When I was young and first came into the league, Ray Lewis was that guy. I was young.Collection: Respect
I work hard every day not only to be a success on the football field and a credit to my team - but to be a good husband, father, son, grandson, teammate - to be the kind of man that is as respected as Walter Payton was.
I'm a steak and potato guy.
I don't believe in moral victories. I don't think in pro ball they exist, and they shouldn't exist.
Excellence is a high performance over a long period of time. That's what I've tried to focus on.
Early on, yeah, my life was a bit of a roller coaster.
The great ones hate to lose more than they love to win.
There's an old saying in football - the circus doesn't stay in town forever. The older you get, the more you realize there's a deeper meaning. It's better to leave 3 hours too soon than a minute too late.
The mental focus it takes to compete against the best players in the world is not easy to maintain. Developing mental toughness is a learned trait, and if you can't develop it in your pursuit of success, you likely won't last in any competitive line of work for more than a cup of coffee.
I've seen the negative impact social media can have, particularly on younger players, who grew up with Twitter and Instagram as an integral part of life.
A player checking Twitter at halftime? I've seen it. A player tweeting out a grievance with an organization about playing time or how he is being utilized? I see it far too often. But the most concerning? Watching a really talented player corrupt his mind and confidence by reading all the critiques from anonymous football experts around the world.
I just want to exhaust every opportunity to play and obviously try to play in a game like this - the Super Bowl.
Negative social media can ruin a player. Reading your mentions? It's poison.
I've spent my entire adulthood in pro football.
Head coach is the leader. He's the guy that sets the tone for the whole organization as far as the structure of the football side of things.
Fantasy football is good for the fans and good for the game.
I am a gamer. I became a gamer since I had kids... much more than I used to be when I'd play 'Madden' and 'NCAA Football' in high school and college.
It's pretty cool to play against your idol.
I think Tony Gonzalez always set the standard. He was the guy that, I think for all of us, when I came in that was really kinda taking this league over as the tight end position. I think Shannon Sharpe was another one.
He could rush the passer, he could bull you, he could beat you speed inside and quickness. Those are long days when you had Michael Strahan lining up right over your head for 60 minutes, because most defensive ends are good at one or the other. Michael was really good at both.
I have a deep desire to have success, to play a high level, and to win championships.
If you want to grow as a player, it takes commitment.
You got to be able to listen to what the coaches are saying and not get your feelings hurt.
I think you've got to have an unbelievable amount of passion and love for the game, even though it's a job and there's a lot of things that go on in the business side of it.
That's what a team does is stay together.
You've got to be able to compete and play at a high level.
My job is to be able to perform for three hours or three and a half hours every Sunday and I've got to work my tail off to get to the point where I can do it, and that's what motivates me.
We know it's a young man's game.
When a new coaching staff comes in, there are a lot of changes that happen with that.
I'm always going to be a Cowboy.
I just want to be deliberate in the process of knowing what it takes to play.
A big part of me has been tied to coaching and I want to get into coaching and make a difference that way.
I know this: the opportunity to play, when that leaves, it is over.
I have 16 years in Dallas. I would love finish it off there. But I also understand and am not naive enough to think that... it may need to be somewhere else. I think that's how this business works. So you have to be open to that idea, for sure.
Those heartaches, those cries in your life that you go through, I thought that every kid goes through them. I knew I didn't have much, but I didn't know there was another side out there. I thought one present for Christmas was the way it is.
My brother one time after a little league basketball game, I think he messed up or something had happened in the game, ends up getting in an argument with my dad. Ultimately he gets pushed down and he ends up cutting the back of his head. He had six or seven stitches over a 10-year-old basketball game. That was tough to watch.
I've always felt like I know how much I've put into every offseason.
Look, you cannot try to be somebody that you're not.
In football there for a long time, I knew even if it was a bad day, a bad day at the office, it was still going to be really good in most cases.
For me, I just focus on playing, playing at a high level. And when you can't do that any longer, you've got to get off the train.
I played to have a chance to win and be around guys that have that same commitment.
Aaron Rodgers, he throws that back-shoulder throw so well.
I have so much respect for this game and the process that goes into playing at a high level.
The things I learned early on from my granddad, the things he instilled in me, are still to this day a huge part and a huge priority of my own life. Even the little stuff like my granddad always telling me to tuck in my shirt at church. It sticks with you.
My parents getting divorced gave me the opportunity to play for my granddad and to meet my wife. I fell in the draft but I ended up in Dallas.
You want to be able to run seam routes and do all that, but to have something that you can hang your hat on and know that it's going to convert first downs, that's what tight ends are paid to do. And I've certainly taken a lot of pride in that over the years.
The Cowboys have done a good job at developing young players.
You have to be able to recognize the value of the people around you.
Fortunately for me, my grandfather gave us a life I could never dream of. He was my high school football coach, my best friend, my school teacher - really my dad.
When you break a collarbone or do something like that, that's out of your control.