Goals give you a mark to shoot for and keep you motivated when you face adversity.
Benjamin Watson
We all have the same problem as human beings. And it's something that we are born with, and we just see it manifest in different ways. And in this situation, it's racial. It's brutality. It's people breaking the law. It's the smoke, but the underlying fire is something that we all have to deal with, and that's our sin.
Usually, 'All Lives Matter' comes as a response to 'Black Lives Matter'; it doesn't exist in a vacuum. So when people say 'Black Lives Matter,' a lot of times the response 'All Lives Matter' can seem very condescending, dismissive to 'Black Lives Matter.'
I have to learn the plays before I can worry about getting passes thrown to me.
When you are a free agent like I was, it definitely makes a big difference when you know there's stability at the quarterback position.
By deciding to live our lives based on solid values and unwavering truth, we can leave a legacy for the young men and boys who want nothing more than to follow in our footsteps.
It sounds kind of cliche when teams say, 'Us against the world,' but that's the mentality you have to have. There are so many opinions out there that come from media, that come from your family or come from people on TV.
Jesus meets the physical needs of kids but also tells them how to save their soul.
I think, over the time that you're in the league, you learn what your body needs: you learn the amount of soft tissue work you need, the amount of dry needling, or the amount of sleep or your nutrition. You also understand that you have to pull back.
We all have faults.
I'm a Georgia guy; we can run.
I would say that we all - in whatever world we're in, whatever your occupation is, we all have a path to walk. We all have struggles.
I sometimes think they should have said 'Black Lives Matter Too,' because that is really what is being said. The outcry is that historically and presently, the feeling is that black lives don't matter as much as white lives because we don't see the same type of things happening to them.
I know God has a plan for me. I don't know what it is.
Athletes are in a position where others think they shouldn't weigh in on certain social topics.
Sometimes listening is of greater value than speaking.
Writing a book is not a small undertaking, but God placed it on my heart to trust Him with such a project.
There shouldn't be any looting or anything like that. But we're seeing a lot of frustration, and nobody knows the answer. All of us are saying we need an answer, and what I'm saying is we need, all of us, a heart change so, as America, we can move forward.
One of the biggest things we have to be able to do is to handle conflict and handle it correctly. We're able to look at our biases, look at our frustration, look at our sin in this area, our pride and our selfishness. It allows us to move forward.
It feels great, definitely feels great to have your number called and be a part of the offense.
I've heard my father say that the man is to be the priest, the provider, and the protector of his family. He's the priest because he is the spiritual leader, monitoring and growing the spiritual temperature of his family.
Good players on good teams don't get too high, don't get too low. They're even-keeled, and they go about their business the right way.
We need to look at truth. We need to look at justice, and we need to look at righteousness. And let that be our guide going forward.
Amazingly, I think that a lot of times athletes are - are kind of in a position where other think they shouldn't weigh in on certain social topics.
You never really get to the point in any offense - even when I was in New England for six years - where things don't change.
You can be a great father if you are willing to let God use you as an instrument.
The only one who can change the heart of man is the Lord. And that will make us want to make things fair for other people.
Conflict, when handled correctly, strengthens.
Ninety years after slavery, blacks were still segregated from whites. They still had separate drinking fountains, separate restrooms, separate neighborhoods, and separate schools. They still were expected to sit at the back of the bus.
Fortunately for me, I had a father who didn't let us get away with anything. You were taught respect, and you were taught to be humble. That has a lot to do with how I am now, because I'm still scared of my dad.
The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It's the gospel.
When you go to work, you are a Christian at your workplace. You're not a broadcaster who happens to be Christian. You're a Christian.
In the same way that I cannot be perfect and need grace for my mistakes, I also need to give my kids grace. I am constantly learning to be patient with them, understanding that they won't do everything right all the time, while still holding them to a high standard, as their heavenly father does.
Our loyalty is not to our grandparents, the traditions, our volleyball team, our friends; as believers, our loyalty is to Scripture.
For everybody, I think that we all, when we look at this situation of race, we need a change of heart, and I said it before. I believe the heart change comes from repenting of your racism, repenting of your bias, repenting of your prejudice and understanding that, you know what, God sees us all the same.
When you pass from death into the life, you become a new person, and so everything you do flows from that.
I think, as athletes, we've been given a platform, and we can use it in a lot of different ways. We can use it for negative. We can use it for positive. We can be indifferent. But if you've been given a platform, I think God is pleased when you share... His truth in love.
All I'm saying is, is God the god who we look to for comfort during tragedies? Is he the god who can control all those things, or is he the god that we don't even trust with our daily lives... As long as there's prayer and exams, as long as there's games, there will be prayers.
So much of football relates to Christian life - sacrifice, commitment, discipline.
God blessed me with great talent and good genetics. Plus, he blessed me with a good work ethic and a drive to want to be the best.
I have been pulled over, and I have actually worried, 'Is something going to happen to me even though I am a law abiding citizen?' That is a real fear and is something that we have to come to grips with.
In order to win in this league, you have to have a quarterback who can make all the throws, who makes great decisions, somebody who can get you out of bad situations, that just gives you a chance.
It's been a constant struggle with my athletic career to identify myself as a child of God and understand that His love is unconditional for us; it's not conditional like fans, or coaches, or even myself.
I would say that one of the hardest things for an athlete, and really anybody of any profession, is that we create our identity in what we do.
The police officer's job is to respect the citizens that they are in control of.
I think that part of the issue here is when people hear 'Black Lives Matter,' sometimes they think that someone is saying your life doesn't matter, and that's not what 'Black Lives Matter,' at least to me, is saying.
Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly for the Lord and not for man, because our true identity is in Him.
I've had a number of injuries; I've had a number of surgeries, and I've been able to bounce back from them. I attribute that to Him as much as me just trying to take care of myself as much as I can.
You grow up a certain way, and you make decisions within your family, but then you go to college, and the decisions become harder. You are away from home, from the influence of your parents, dealing with peer pressure. There's a lot of stuff that goes on in college.
I respect the police officers, but something you learn as a young black man in this country is that... life is a little bit different for you even though, on the surface, it seems to be the same.
