Tony Dorsett Quotes

When I was growing up Harlequins were interested in signing me because I was very fast and strong at an early age, but I wasn't interested in rugby at the time.

I look at the N.B.A. as a job, a great job to have, so I think, for me, I would have loved the opportunity to go to the N.B.A. out of high school. If you're not ready, you're not ready. If you are ready, I think you should be able to go.

When you join the NFL, you start from scratch. As long as I've been playing - which has been since I was eight years old - the game becomes harder at every level. Little league, high school, college - they're different stages you have to go through, and professional sport is completely different again.

The American boy starts swinging the bat about as soon as he can lift one.

There is no formula to making it to the NFL other than good fortune and and playing well in college.

When I was in university, my dream was to be a coach, like a high school track coach. Not to teach.

It is not the time spent with the child at their activity that is going to produce the highest level athlete. It is in supporting the child in an organized activity - and Bill alluded to this - so the child can find what they truly like to do and let them go.

If you look at any superior athlete, you will find a strong parental influence. Parents introduce their children to a sport, and then they support them.

People think that coaches are always right, but it's difficult to teach a runner how to run, because every runner is different. You have to have an understanding of how to assist what that runner has, so they know how to assist what you have without taking away your special ability, because you're not like anybody else.

The young athlete who aspires to greatness, generally speaking, learns a number of things from several different coaches. The first one taught him the fundamentals; the second one instilled discipline in him and taught him more of the techniques that must be mastered to excel.

It's that way all the way down the line. I've got a boy coaching college ball and another son coaching high school. All the way down to summer leagues, all the way down to kids who are 14 years old. All those teams have a closer.

Today's Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they're out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball.

I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA.

I could've played basketball, but my mind was on baseball. I didn't know what I was in for. In high school it was a matter of talent. No one told you what to do.

Being a part of the National Football League for so long, I've come across so many trainers and equipment managers who've allowed me to be who I am today.

I actually ran in junior high school a little bit, you know, like most kids do in track and things. Then I got out of it and just trained for football and played ball for so many years - high school, college and the NFL.

I must have made a good impression because a club official to us into his office and asked me if I would sign on for a year with a view to becoming a professional.

These kids are the future of the National Football League. They're the next generation that will be playing high school football, NCAA football, and some even to the pros.

There are great amateur bodies that have good programs right from the grassroots level to professionals.

I still believe it is important that children have a chance to play other sports because they all offer learning experiences. Soccer is a growing sport and would be a good complement to hockey.

The great thing with Usain Bolt is he fell into great coaching, so his talent was exceptional from Day 1. You can coach technique and structure, but not talent.

If they're out of high school, and they can go directly to the NBA and get drafted and get millions of dollars, I'm for it 100 percent. Just let's not devalue education. Let's just not devalue it.

I'd love to be coaching kids three or four years. You kidding me? That's what I used to do.

I wasn't really that interested in playing. I had gone through some hard times not playing in high school, but my coach had it in his mind that basketball was the way I would get an education.

I coach at Rutgers University and help out there as a part-time assistant coach. I feel like the coach is kind of in me, and it would also be great exposure, so I'd be down for it, for sure.