I think the more common players who have been around for a while - Joe Root, Alastair Cook, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad - those guys I know of, they're fantastic players.
Halas didn't believe in starting rookies.
Being around veteran leaders such as CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner really helped me.
I know guys look at me for advice. I reach out to Kevin Durant or Wesley Matthews, DeMarcus Cousins... the guys who have been through it, and I just get confident more and more every day.
Fifa would benefit hugely from the experience of former players from a variety of backgrounds including Africa and Asia. There aren't many senior staff who have played at the top level and the organisation needs balance.
Rampone and the other experienced players gave me plenty of support when I first came into the national team in 2013.
For once in my career, I won't have to hold anybody's hand and they won't have to hold mine. I'm surrounded by veterans. We had a great battle last Thursday at HealthPoint. It was something I never had before - three, four, really great players all in one pickup game.
I'm absolutely enjoying the Premier League, as you can imagine. I knew it was going to be tough. It's the best league in the world and you are up against players who have been in it for years so they know it inside out.
I think if you look at, for instance, what the Seahawks - what we did winning the Super Bowl, that was with a very young team. So you have to blend the experience with young players and develop those as well.
Something interesting has happened over the last 10 years in the Premier League. Players who once would have been discarded as expensive and too old have become important parts of title-winning squads.
A team needs experienced cricketers to guide its younger players.
When you have experienced players, you don't tremble when it comes to playing in a hostile atmosphere or under pressure.
Playing every day with important players is good for a young player: you are always learning from experienced players.
I think it's great just to be around great quarterbacks who have played in this league for a long time because everybody wants to.
But any squad needs players who are hungry to do well, with their careers ahead of them. That's important for the dynamic of the group, but it also needs a balance of guys who have seen it, done it and have that quality of leadership. It is all about the quality of the player.
For me, I don't see Madrid in a crisis. And I don't think it's for me to carry the team - there are players who are much more experienced, have more years playing under their belts, and more status than I have, and they're the ones who have to lead the team.
I have always preferred to liken the championship to a marathon. You have to know how to start the race, how to take the strain when problems come along and to make sure you don't give any potentially dangerous rivals an advantage. My policy is to ideally have five or six men around the age of 26, a couple of youngsters, a couple round the 28 mark and one or two in their 30s. But the nucleus of the team should be experienced and not too old.
Young players are starting to come up as well and they will see me as one of the older, experienced ones.
The players who have been with the national team for a long time are used to international competitions, used to playing against the best in the world.
Being in the clubhouse, talking to the veterans, talking to guys who have been here, getting to know everybody, getting the personalities, you can actually learn a lot from the other players in the league.
You need a really good mix between young and old, between experienced and hungry players.
I know it is really hard to win a league, especially the Premier League, but we have experienced players here at Liverpool.
Karl Malone used a lot of veteran stuff that I thought was cool. Charles Barkley taught me a lot when I played against him. How he would use his body or use his dribble to get people in there and all that stuff. Veteran moves.
I am more into the old school guy than I am with the new school guys. I came in young and I had to pay my dues to be considered a vet. To be able to play for over 10 years at wide receiver, that's why I like looking at the older guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Teddy Ginn Jr., Brian Hartline. That's what I'm about.
I've played with, and against, some of the best players in the world and have experienced so much that professional football has to offer.
