I'm a massive fan of Didier Drogba, I love the way he plays. He's not as stacked as me but he's strong and he's still scoring goals. I'm a fan of Diego Costa as well. I think he crosses the line at times but I like the fact he doesn't allow himself to be bullied.
— Adebayo Akinfenwa
I know that I don't look like a footballer but I've always enjoyed working out and I've always been bigger than most people out there. I come from big stock. If you see my brothers and me together, we look like a wrestling tag team trio.
It's about sticking to your strengths - I'm not trying to run away from nobody or do any double stopovers or anything like that, have you seen how big these legs are? Though i'm sure people would love to see it.
I think I would have held my own in the NFL.
Sometimes you're not blessed with the materialistic stuff but you're blessed with a work ethic.
When you hear Beast Mode, you automatically go to my size, but I always say the strongest thing I own is not my chest, my legs, not my arms. It's my mind. It's that mindset that says: Look, you're not always going to succeed but don't take it as a loss, take it as a lesson. That's the mindset of Beast Mode.
As a big man you may struggle to get much height when jumping for a ball - but by training with your defender team-mates you can develop a technique for making strong challenges in the air, making defenders uncomfortable and work on taking the ball down.
As long as I am feeling good I will play football. As long as I am feeling fit, strong and being affective on and off the pitch, I will play the game I love.
Even though I am getting my coaching badges, I am more into mentoring.
I'd always been one of the strongest players in the game, but officially in 'Fifa 14' I was the strongest in the world. If they say so, I must be. I like that.
If you have a love for something, you persevere.
Kids are a product of their environment.
People said: 'You're too big to play football,' but I kept playing and it just happened that people have caught on to me and taken to me. The nicest thing I get from it is that I can be myself and people seem to like it.
I am not a small guy - I will be the first to say it.
More than anything I prefer the ball on the floor. I think I play my best football on the floor. There is a delicacy to this big giant.
Players build up friendships with each other, so when a team-mate wants out, part of you understands that he is torn and you know you can't begrudge him a move. But the other part of you wants him to stay because you want to win games.
If you want to gamble, so be it, but when it gets to the stage where gambling is the only thing you are thinking of and it is affecting your life, that's when you need to put a hold on it.
My stats speak for themselves; I've got a good touch for a big man, I know I can find the back of the net.
I'd like to be a Marvel character and get in one of those films.
As you get older, you know what you're good at and you know what you're not so good at. Your ego comes out of it, and then you realise you can't play every game, there'll be certain games where you won't be so affected... so you've just got to concentrate on what you are.
I do think there is a responsibility for myself as being a senior professional footballer to be able to pass on my experiences to the younger generation.
I'm an eclectic individual when it comes to film. I love my Disney: 'Aladdin,' 'The Lion King.' Also, 'Romeo+Juliet,' the Leonardo DiCaprio version.
People only see what they want to see and sometimes you can't do anything about that, so you just pick up the baton and you just run with it.
Don't try to kid yourself that your game is about pace if it isn't. If you're a big guy like me you need to look at how similarly built players use that physical presence to influence a game. Accept that your build may have some limitations - but plenty of plus points too.
With hard work comes rewards and I want to make youngsters who could have gone left but went right find the right path.
People have tried to push me into other sports, but it's always been football.
I like being the biggest on the pitch, I don't want to look at the other guys and think his arms are bigger than mine.
My Christian faith has guided me.
It may sound cliched, but it just shows that when you don't let people put you in a box then anything can happen.
A footballer who says they don't want to start games is in the wrong job.
Sometimes it is tough and frustrating to sit on the bench.
My old boss Aidy Boothroyd is a great man and I've got no malice or anything toward him.
During my career I've come back to clubs after the summer break to see one of my team-mates not really at it because he's been denied a move to a bigger club for whatever reason, and you can see in his body language that he doesn't want to be there and that kind of thing is massively disruptive and negative.
I've always liked to keep myself busy so I don't get sucked in by temptations and that was part of the reason why I set up my BMO brand - to keep me occupied during my career, but also for when I finish football.
If I'm destined to play in the MLS, I will.
Everyday I'm just going to continue defying limitations.
Gym sessions will always consist of 40 minutes to one-hour cardio. I try to stay off the treadmill because of the pounding, so it's the rower or the cross-trainer.
People concentrate on 'oh you can't do that,' or 'you're a bit too big for that' or whatever, rather than just concentrating on what you're good at. It's about being comfortable with the skin you're in, being comfortable within your own mind.
Defy the limitations people put on you.
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.
I'm aware that there are a lot of guys playing at amateur level with a build like mine and I say stick at it, use what you've got to make an impact on the game.
I was raised on an estate in an inner city school where people had a go about my size, people saying I am too big to play football - which still happens today - and I used that to inspire me.
I've always been big, my brothers are my size, we come from good stock.
Look, nobody can begrudge Steven Gerrard doing what he wants to do. He has just been a legend.
I was asked to go in a banana suit once or eat as many doughnuts as possible. I would not do those things. I don't eat doughnuts so why would I eat 20.
Football was my saving grace so I want to let people know that you can achieve whatever you want. People like to concentrate on what you can't do, so let's preach what you can. Why would I want to talk about not being quick when I'm strong? That's what I want to get across.
My size works against me as well, as some players I would just touch and they would fall over to get a free kick.
Everyone has got a perception of what a footballer is and, because I am a certain size, that I can only play one way - as a battering ram.
A player's mind, body and soul have to be right to get the best out of them, and if a player no longer wants to be at a club then the club should try and get the best deal they can and let the player move on.
I enjoy watching England but I won't rearrange my schedule just to make sure I'm in to see the game.
