"Of course, when I was younger I made mistakes. We all do. As guys we are slow to mature and I did some stupid things. At Howard University I performed well as a hurdler. I won races and conference championships but at homecoming time I decided to hang out with friends and I missed two practises in my sophomore year. My coach was furious and kicked me off the team only for a colleague to talk him out of it and give me a two-meet suspension instead"

"The suspension actually ran from October through to January because I was waiting to serve the two-meet ban. I was sat on the bus in street clothes fetching snacks for the team. It was embarrassing. To me, this was a huge wake-up call and made me realise how close I’d been to letting everything slip and returning back to Denver to live in my mom’s basement. It was a reminder of how fleeting your career can be and as my coach reminded me - Howard University was here way before me and would be here way after me – and I have only the interim period to leave a legacy"

"Many people love to offer advice and change many things about their life, but for me I’d just say, “stay the course”. I’d not change anything because every setback you experience always serves a purpose. I honestly don’t feel that had I started the sport earlier or maybe gone to a different university is something I desire. I love the path I walked down, so I would tell myself to hang in there and stay the course"

"I would also say I have no regrets or advice to give because if you have never been through setbacks, how does that teach resilience? Going through challenges teaches you coping strategies fo the future"

"I always try and take the time with fans because you never really know what that moment can do for someone, and how that moment can change the trajectory of their career or their school life or whatever it is."

"I feel like my identity was so wrapped up in soccer, and then when the game is kind of taken away from you, you start questioning."

"There are always challenges, but stepping outside of your comfort zone is how you grow."

"We will be judged on cowardice. If we don't do what's right for women in sport. It's a very worthy cause. What women have been given through sport in this role in their life, it's really priceless. And so we can decide that that's worth saving, that's worth holding on to and investing in for our future. Or we can just say, hey you know what: we've got this little side agenda that has a strong really loud voice and we're either going to yield to it or not."

"Don’t be scared to live your faith. When I was young and went on my first trip I was hesitant to speak up and say that I wanted to go to Mass. When I stuck to it and showed that I lived my faith I got respect from my teammates."

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."

"There's no place for pity in the ring. Many fighters can't bear to hammer a helpless opponent in the ring. They don't want to hurt him. But look at Dempsey he was probably the greatest rough and tumble fighter who ever lived."

"He should’ve been the only heavyweight anybody ever thought of when they thought about the greatest heavyweight champion. I mean he had everything. He could punch, he could box. He was mean and determined."

"When I was a young fellow I was knocked down plenty. I wanted to stay down, but I couldn’t. I had to collect the two dollars for winning or go hungry. I had to get up. I was one of those hungry fighters. You could have hit me on the chin with a sledgehammer for five dollars. When you haven’t eaten for two days you’ll understand."

"Nobody has to go hungry today. There is plenty of work for a man who wants to work. A kid can make plenty of dough for himself doing almost anything. I was hungry. I had to fight my way along. Freights and the like, fight, fight all the time. The life was tough, but it hardened you."

"Honey, I just forgot to duck."