Danny Pudi Quotes

I did play two years of high school football and was very short and uncoordinated but the second year I was very tall and skinny and very uncoordinated.

I played varsity on all of them for four years. I'm 5'9 and that's not that tall for a center so I was a forward. I loved playing volleyball and basketball and track I was good at, but it stressed me out.

I ran track for my school. I played football, but I didn't play for my high school; I played for a little league team.

I made the varsity team as a freshman at 15. Then, I tore a tendon and never fully recovered. I was a shortstop, then third baseman, then second baseman.

Because I was small, I was getting the hell kicked out of me playing football.

I came to running late. It was something I had always wanted to do, but I always end up getting hurt. It didn't occur to me that I could actually slow down and walk a little bit!

Before I got injured, football was very easy, I didn't have to work out.

I was super sporty in high school. I played tennis, field hockey, and lacrosse.

Football players have always got a problem, some pain, and in some games, I have had small problems with my knee or some pain, and I played anyway, but people don't know if I have a problem or not. People just know if you score a goal or if you play badly, but they never know if you are well or not.

Any injury is tough, and it is a little bit tougher when it is the hand that you have to catch with, but it is football man. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I ended up breaking a bone in my foot early in my rookie season, and honestly, it was kind of a blessing. I had so much free time while being laid up that I put a lot of time in on film to understand the game from a different vantage point.

I've been hurt every year I played football.

I got hurt my senior year of college. I ended up breaking my fifth metatarsal after I pulled out of the Draft. That was a good experience for me to kind of find myself, figure out a plan for post-basketball because obviously it doesn't last forever.

I was an undersized, undertalented defensive back. I knocked myself out multiple times running into people. I ended my career without an anterior cruciate ligament. I still don't have one. At a certain point, you realize: I've used up all I've got.

Fitness has always been one of my strengths. I can do all the long-distance runs. When I was at school and we entered the competitions, I used to do the 100m, 200m, and the 1500m as well, so it's never just been a pace thing.

Injuries made me a believer in cross-training.

As athletes, we're always going to have aches and pains, but when your teammates cheer you on, you don't think about it.

I was playing college football, and I hurt my knee very badly my senior year, and I didn't want to get a real job.

I look at our sport as the same as tennis. Male and female tennis is very, very different. The men's is more quick and powerful, and the women's is more about finesse and has more rallies - and that's the same with men's and women's football.

When I was younger, I could carry 270 around and run go routes, and it was no big deal.

I feel like after my incident, it really made me realize football is not here forever. I'm all the more anxious to come out here and let my teammates know, 'Look, hey, this is the same JPP. Missing fingers aren't going to stop me from playing some ball.'

Wrestling is just an extension of who I am.

When I went to Le Havre, I wasn't physically ready. I was skinny and not strong enough to play in a tough league. They told me to go back to the second team. I was very disappointed, but maybe that helped me to be the way I am now.

I don't know if I'm ever going to quit playing football. I'm just kidding.

Training to be a tough tackler isn't easy - you don't want to injure yourself or team-mates so it's crucial that you have self-belief in your abilities and strength.