I think some of the best pieces of advice for me was when I talked to some of the great players who have had success in this league how much they emphasized the importance of rest, that you can't just go 100 miles an hour all 12 months of the year every day and just keep going. That is a recipe for burnout.
Kirk Cousins
Like everybody else, I am naturally selfish, and so I'm going to think about myself.
And I think at the end of my life, it's not going to be about what I did for myself, but what I did for others. Maybe it's staying after practice to do hand signals with the guys to help them get caught up to speed. To make it about others - I think that's what leadership is all about, quarterbacking is all about.
When you make bad decisions bad things happen. And it was so simple. You know, the decisions you make are going to become the life that you live!
I used to tell people that in 2012 when I was trying to understand where am I most likely to be drafted and who are the three or four teams that have pursued me the most and it would make sense that they would pick me, I never thought of who would be least likely to draft me.
If we win, everybody will feel good. If we lose, all the other things just don't really matter. Winning is what matters to me.
Discipleship, following Jesus Christ is the toughest thing that you're going do in your whole life. You're not going to find anything tougher.
The accumulation of knowledge is a powerful thing.
I don't believe it's too far-fetched to think that we as college football players can make a significant, positive difference in the youth culture of America simply by embracing the responsibilities that accompany this place of privilege.
I was fortunate to have a dad who was very involved, very present, very wise.
I think at times I have to be careful not to stick my foot in my mouth and not to have the pedal to the metal at all times, because that can hurt me as a quarterback.
When things are down, we can't hit the panic button, and when things are up, we can't relax. We've just got to stay consistent.
I think if Joe Montana or Peyton Manning had their way, they would've stayed where they had won Super Bowls and played so well. They wouldn't have had to leave.
And I have to be willing to be patient to allow God's plan to unfold and not go ahead and try to make my own circumstances happen for me. So, I've learned that He can be trusted for every need and desire but at the same time that may require patience on my end.
To have a platform to make a difference ultimately, which is what I want to do with my life, we've got to win football games. When you're highly paid and your losing, no one really cares what you have to say.
I knew the statistics of playing pro football were 1% of 1%, so I just never planned on it.
I think I play better when people say keep showing us what you've got, keep showing us. And whatever's going to get me to play at a high level is what I want to do.
I joke with people - and Kyle Shanahan used to say this - that my swagger is having no swagger, but that kind of becomes my thing.
I really put the medical school thing on hold and really chased after my football dream. And I guess I'm still chasing. I'm eight years in the NFL, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am.
It comes down to your decision-making and obviously you can get better and better as a decision-maker as you play, and get reps and go through experiences and learn but football's the same as life, you got to be a great decision maker to have success.
I've always had that chip on my shoulder, felt the need to prove myself.
I'm not a guy who wants to skydive and open my parachute at the last minute. I want to open my parachute right away and know what's coming.
I'm pretty much a .500 quarterback in my career so far and I don't think that's where you want to be, and that's not why you are brought in or people or excited about you.
Guys can see through fake! They can tell someone who's just trying to check the box! So, I've got to be Kirk Cousins and believe that'll be good enough!
I think that being a Christian, a Jesus follower, teaches you to be selfless, to be hard-worker, to be tough, to be persistent and I don't know a single coach in the country that doesn't want those qualities from his players.
Coming out of high school, however, I wasn't a decorated recruit. As a result, I found myself one month from signing day with only two scholarship offers and they were from the Mid-American Conference.
I want to be where I'm wanted, and that's what I've said all along. When a team is willing to step up and commit to me fully for the long haul, then why would I want to be anywhere else?
I'm going to do all I can, control what I can control and I think one thing I can do beyond just playing the best I can is to start really coaching and leading other people so that I can never walk off the field saying, 'Hey, I did my part but so-and-so didn't,' that can't happen.
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was a college football junkie. My mom attended the University of Iowa and so I can remember I used to run around the backyard in a number 6, Tim Dwight Iowa jersey when I was very little.
I've called the spring game for Big Ten Network for Michigan State. It's a great opportunity to still stay around the game, to be able to feel like you're close to the action. I'm very analytical, so I think it fits the way I think.
Sometimes when I get frustrated and ticked off, there's a little more fire there. It can also get you in trouble if you're not careful, but I think within reason it can help you.
I've been raised and taught to believe that privilege should lead to responsibility - in fact to greater responsibility.
I think at times where I fail as a leader is probably when I haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to lead and when I do allow the Holy Spirit to handle it - I think that's when I'm most successful as a leader.
When you go to college, you're on your own. It's you and God. It's a question of what are you made of and how much is God a part of your life. So when I went off to college, I knew that was going to be the case.
I prayed about it, and I do believe that the Lord, at least in my life, likes to use one-year contracts and not long-term contracts.
Winning is everything, especially at this stage of my career - I'm going into Year 7. Because I've been franchise-tagged twice, I've been in a position where it's not about the money so much; it's about winning. I want to win.
I mean, my dad, is really the biggest leadership influence in my life and I believe Jesus was the greatest leaders that ever lived and I think He had the most impact on humanity of anybody who ever walked the planet.
Life is about balance. You don't want to live out of whack over here or out of whack over here. I want to win and be well compensated, and I think there's a balance to find. It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other.
When I come home from work, if I just played a really good game and I'm on top of the world, I think changing a diaper will humble me pretty quickly. On days when I struggle, I'll come home and I'll realize that it's not the end of the world.
I've never been one to just let everyone see what I'm about, so sometimes there is a misperception.
I'm totally cool being self-deprecating.
What impact are you making, not only today, but for eternity? What impact are you making to leave a legacy?
Ultimately, I've just got to keep playing football and try to do it the best I can and try to continue to be a high-level quarterback, and if I do that, trust that in the long run things will work out.
Every player looks forward to free agency.
I just don't get my hopes up. I don't expect too much from people in the league because you just never know what could happen.
I had a phenomenal six seasons in Washington and really can't say enough good things about my experience there. It's tough to move on from teammates, from everyone involved in the organization, from coaches and teammates, to the chaplain, to even friends in the community, our neighbors.
I haven't had a chance to pick where I wanted to play since 2007 when I chose to go to Michigan State.
I got a small window of time to be an NFL quarterback. Some day when I'm done playing I can sit back and look at what we accomplished, or how does it feel, or what's it like.
When you say was it you being silly or letting yourself go, or is it you being intense? I would say it was me being me. I would say that me being me is probably yes to all of that. So having fun, playing with passion, it matters to me, competitive.
At the quarterback position I would say mental is just as important as physical. Then there's that emotional component too.
