Jason Witten
Every time an older player gets toward the end of their career, they're always talking about 'I feel better now than I did 10 years ago.'
If you're in the NFL for more than five minutes you see that you can be here today and gone tomorrow. That's why I played the way I did. I think that's why I worked hard to not miss a game, fight through injuries and all that stuff because when it's gone, it's gone.
When you call a game, it's almost like you're doing a three-hour movie and the production of it all, living in the moment in real time, the replays, all the intricacies that go into putting a game in a broadcast. It's not just 100 percent football.
People talk about how precious the relationships of teammates are and the brotherhood and bond.
Look, I had a great experience in the booth. I saw a different perspective.
As a kid, you just want to play football. For me one day it will end, but until the end I love getting the opportunity to go out there and play at a high level.
I think any player would say that they want their coaches' respect, they want their teammates' respect, and they want their opponent to respect them.
Any competitor, I think, wants to be the best every time they're out there.
I always say that I continue to set the standard really high for myself, but you don't get into a catch count or any of that stuff. I think it's just in how you play, how you approach the game.
Fitting in with teammates has never been an issue for me. It's always something that came very natural.
Since I was 15 or 16 years old, my grandfather was my high school football coach and my life's been ball. Dinners we're talking about ball and college we're talking about ball.
Once you're a player, you always have a little bit of that in you.
We all want more money, it just doesn't work that way.
Yeah, I probably talk a little bit of trash.
Being a fan of the game, you always look up to those types of guys that really have given you an opportunity.
My game's really never referenced as shake 'n' bake.
My career has been defined, in a good way, on the option route. And a lot of times, it's a bang-bang play. It's a great play because it can convert first downs. But at the same time, you don't get a lot of those opportunities in the open field.
There's something to be said with your quarterback your leader being there on Day 1.
My whole approach in calling a game is that you want to be fun and entertaining, but you also want to be the voice of reason too.
There's so many ways to be passionate about what you do.
You just constantly are evaluating and learning and drawing players and coverages and talking through it. It's part of making you the player, how you want to approach the game.
We all get motivated differently and I think as you get older, you'd be foolish not to draw on your experiences from the past.
I took pride in knowing, 'Hey, my numbers may be down, but football guys know I'm playing at a high level.'
You want to fight for everything you can get, every yard, every drive, every opportunity that you have.
When I've had injuries where there's nothing structurally wrong and I know it's just about gutting through? I have the ability to say, 'Get better. I'm good.'
I'm going to be humble, I'm going to be accountable, do it with a smile on my face, make other people around me better.
From minute one, I thought that after I called a game, I said 'Man, I thought I would enjoy calling a game a little more than I probably did.' I thought I would enjoy that part of it. I didn't have the fulfillment that I thought I probably would.
Look, it's a show-me game. I've got to be able to show it.
Anytime you kind of take the road that I've taken, people don't know what to expect.
So much is made of catches and doing all of that. But inside a team, the things you remember are the moments when nobody thinks you can do it and you try to rally your team and try to add some inspiration for them.
Every time you go out, you want to help your team, play your best and don't let any opportunities slide by.
There are a lot of good tight ends.
Hopefully I can play until I'm 40.
There's high expectations for Cowboys. There's been some great quarterbacks who have come through that organization.
Wins in this league are precious.
You try to make the decisions that you think are best in realtime.
Granddad taught me a long time ago, act like you've been there before.
A lot of guys I've seen in my career that played at a high level and were done, they moved on, never thought another day about it.
There comes a point in every season for every team that you start to separate yourself, and you see the league do that every year.
Like most tight ends I was a pass-receiving tight end coming into the league.
Ideally, if you ask most tight ends, they would say we want the defender on us early. The reason for that is we feel like, for one, we know where we're going. Two, we can attack leverage, it declares itself if it's truly man coverage. We can work the release.
There's nothing better than having a positive impact on kids.
Being famous is fun.
It's special to me, a privilege being a role model. I take pride in being a good one.
I really think for any tight end around my age, Shannon Sharpe was the guy you looked to in Denver, him and Elway and what they were able to achieve.
Like others before me, I have a great opportunity as an NFL player to make a difference in the lives of others.
I am extremely flattered to be chosen the 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year from such an esteemed group of nominees.