The first thing I do after I wake up is a morning meditation. It's just as I awake and before I open my eyes. It's where I'm feeding my gratitude and the love in my heart and opening my heart. A good morning meditation is key. It lasts about 10 to 15 minutes. Then I get out of bed.
Tony Gonzalez
Game after game, year after year, you never stop thinking about the balls you get your hands on and don't catch.
It ain't how you start out, it's how you finish.
Would I have been a great basketball player? No. But I think I would've been a good basketball player, one of those grinders getting eight to 10 rebounds. I would've been like Kobe and been in the gym five to seven hours a day and never missed a 10-foot jump shot. I would've been a great role player for a team.
I've been very blessed. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me.
I usually wake up around 7:30 A.M. without an alarm clock. I wake up naturally because I'm huge on sleep. I believe it's the No. 1 thing you can do if you're trying to create a better life.
For me, I'm really tired of living and dying with the game. Every game. I've tried to turn it off. I'm still trying. I can't. It sucks. Believe me, it sucks.
I remember in my second year in the league, I dropped 17 balls and led the NFL in dropped passes. That made me the player I am. If I didn't go through that transformative power of crisis, none of this would've probably happened for me.
I've been on some really good teams, but we weren't able to get over the hump. It's offense, defense and special teams, and then the ball has to go your way.
I have a recurring role on 'NCIS' and that's been a lot of fun.
I think consistency, that's one thing that I look back over my career. You could count on me catching around 80 balls a year or whatever, almost eight, nine touchdowns. And I only missed two games out of 17 years, I'm pretty proud of that, too.
Our goal isn't to go undefeated. Like, 'Hey, we're going to have an undefeated season.' Our goal is to win every game we're playing. And there's a difference.
It's all about how you treat your body. It's proper rest and proper nutrition.
It's about getting hot, playing good football come playoff time.
The only regrets I have are things I didn't do.
We're not all like Tom Brady, who just keeps winning Super Bowls.
You have to learn from your mistakes.
Whether it's in the weight room or extra stretching, you never know when you're going to need that little extra oomph.
You take it one game at a time because it's the most important game of the season.
Kansas City is dear to me and I am honored to be inducted into their Hall of Fame.
When I got to the NFL, they asked me what number I wanted, and I said No. 44, but they told me tight ends are not allowed to have that number. So I said, 'Just double it up for me if you can' and took No. 88. I figured I'd be twice as good as I was.
Here's what I always tell people: It's a mentality that you have to have in the NFL. It isn't about if you have the athleticism. When they bring you in, you've already shown what you can do athletically.
The Pro Bowl is an honor, and I don't know why so many people skip it. I skipped it one time because I played the week before, but I always wanted to be out there.
Salaries should be set based on production and contributions, not positions.
It's a little weird thinking I'm going to be an Atlanta Falcon - just saying that.
If I can't win a Super Bowl, so what? What would it do for me?
Dealing with bullies when I was in sixth and seventh grade has made me a better football player, believe it or not. You have to come to a point when you're like, 'I've had enough, and I'm not going to be kicked around and pushed around anymore.'
I think when you give, that's probably the highest form of living. It's better than almost any feeling you could think of. It's way better than scoring touchdowns to me.
You can't expect to be better than everybody else if you're doing the same thing as everybody else.
I've day-dreamed about raising that Lombardi Trophy. I can see it in my mind.
The hardest things in my life have made me who I am.
We were a single-parent household for a while. It was just my mom, me, and my brother. We were on welfare for about a year and a half. But I remember my mom never complained, and we never wanted for anything. She always made ends meet and she's been the rock for the family. She instilled in me work ethic and toughness.
Being considered a dirtbag is not illegal.
I've seen guys retire and then say they don't feel their career was complete without a Super Bowl. They play that woulda-coulda game in their heads. Not me.
I love philosophy and spirituality and leveling-up books and science books.
My mother was an administrator at a nursing home, and my first job was working at a nursing home as an activities assistant. She wanted me to do it because it forces you out of your shell, and it's about giving back. That's something that I learned from my mother at a very young age.
While I was playing, I started a company that didn't work out. I got a taste of the business world and realized I'm not going to be a 9-to-5 guy in the office after football is over. When the opportunity came for television. I thought, 'Let's go for it,' even though it was nerve-racking. I enjoyed it.
I've always wanted a ring. That's been my main goal as a player over the last 15 years of my career. You're really trying to get that ultimate goal.
When I came into the league trying to party and having too much of a good time, I found out the hard way how it affected my performance.
I could have played in the NBA. I would have put up 1,000 jump shots a day. I've got that type of work ethic.
I believe in a higher power. Some people out there don't.
Don't tell me that the rules prohibit you from hitting a guy up top. You have a whole target area above his knee up to his neck that you can hit.
I'm so proud to have been a part of the Chiefs for 12 seasons and will always feel like a part of their family.
Everything happens for a reason, and hopefully it makes me a better person in the process.
Of course I want to win a Super Bowl, but at the same time I'm very happy with what I've accomplished and the relationships I've made over the years.
I grew up in Kansas City. I got here when I just turned 21.
I've been able to play for some of the best fans in the NFL.
When you go through those hard times, that's when you ask those questions that normally you wouldn't. If you win, you don't ask questions. You don't worry about it.
I don't want to be one of those players towards the end - nothing against those guys who've done it like that in the past - but I want to make sure that I'm at the top of my game when I do go out.
I want to go to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl.
