You want to take a charge from LeBron James coming down the lane with no helmet on - that's dangerous. But you know what? Some people like to do that stuff. So leave them alone.
— Jon Gruden
I don't want to look at myself like I'm some superhero. But I'm not going to let people wipe their feet on football on my chest.
I took a lot of pride, honestly, in hiring these young guys, that not only to become future head coaches, but I wanted young guys that could help me - guys that can coach, guys that could study, guys that loved it, that would do it for nothing. That's how I got into coaching with the 49ers when John McVay hired me.
God bless Tony Romo.
When we had a great defense at Tampa Bay, we always measured our defenses against the best quarterbacks.
I show up in a playoff game, I have my sideline sheet. I can't even spit plays out, I get so excited. I mean, you get nervous. These are critical, do-or-die situations. Third down and 1, Red Zone, what do I call? Two minute drill? Are we going to go no huddle? These are decisions that you wrestle with.
I think when you get Robert Griffin, one of the most explosive quarterbacks to ever play the position, in a Mike Shanahan-type system, the possibilities are very exciting, I think, with Mike Shanahan's imagination.
Antonio Gates is spectacular. But he's not a blocking tight end.
Some of the best lessons that I've ever learned are on a ball field - basketball, football, baseball, golf. And I learned great lessons from my coaches - being on time, being mentally tough, having some discipline, and being part of a team.
I get excited for big games in December.
I just try to get the most out of every day and be prepared for anything.
I learned a lot from Al Davis, and I got a lot better as a coach.
I'm not a good golfer. I don't have any hobbies, really.
There are very few passions in my life - The man upstairs, family, and football.
I break down the tape like I'm a quality-control coach, just like I was with the Packers in 1992. I break it down by hand, every play.
I got a lot of the greatest values in life from playing sports, from playing football - teamwork, sportsmanship, my work ethic, resiliency, dedication - I got it all by being on a team.
I don't want to be a negative piece of barbed wire sitting up in the booth with all the answers. I think that's a turn-off.
We've got enough issues in this country without worrying about some of the things we're worrying about. It's unbelievable to me. And as long as I'm alive, I know what football gave me. It taught me my work ethic. It gave me a sense of discipline.
You either have the charisma, the knowledge, the passion, the intelligence - or you don't.
The Gruden-McVay relationship goes all the way back to 1970. John McVay and my dad are best of friends. My dad continued to work with McVay as a 49er. When John McVay became the general manager, he hired my dad to be one of his scouts.
In football, we tried each week to come up with the best game plan for every opponent. Some were tougher than others.
You think of Brady, you think of Rodgers, Roethliseber, Eli Manning. They're icemen. They have no feelings - none. They're able to concentrate on a snap-by-snap basis.
Eli Manning is the one man I just don't want to see in the playoffs. He is a flatliner.
A lot of people forget how extraordinary Elway was handing the ball off to Terrell Davis, and those bootlegs, those naked bootlegs off of those stretch plays was devastating.
This whole social media scene makes me sick.
I spend most of my time looking at game film.
It doesn't make much sense to blitz a guy that gets rid of the ball in less than 1.5 seconds.
All I ever wanted to do was coach, 'cause I knew I wasn't gonna be a player.
You have to be able to recognize defenses on your own in pro football. You can't look to the sideline and read some board. You've got to recognize the defense on your own, and then you've got to communicate to your offensive teammates what you want them to do.
If ESPN ever kicked me out the door and I had to get back to coach, I have to stay on top of what's going on.
I compete with myself. I try to get more done than you. I don't know why.
I used to take a lot of pride into what went into practice.
When I got fired from coaching, I started coaching high school because my son played. I realized real quick that high school football is in trouble. There's no budget. A lot of kids have got to pay to play, and every year, coaches are getting out of the profession. Kids aren't playing like they used to. It bothers me.
Having been in the league with five different franchises, I know what the meaning of Monday Night Football is. It's usually the best games and the greatest venue outside the playoffs.
I kind of like to be one of the guardians of the game.
I learned from Al Davis. We didn't have any secretaries. Secretaries, really, in Oakland were young football people.
From the standpoint that you try to adjust your offense to your quarterback, you try to adjust your football team around your players. You do the best you can with the hand that you have, and you've got to add some parts along the way.
Cancer is tough. It is a relentless opponent that won't seem to go away.
Some guys, nothing bothers them. Eli Manning is one of those players.
I've been hitting up Hooters since 1983, and I can assure you nothin' says football season is here quite like watching the game on wall-to-wall flat screen TVs with the smell of Hooters world-famous chicken wings in the air and an ice-cold beer in your hand, served up with one-and-only Hooters hospitality, of course.
Some of the best tape that I've ever studied was Mike Shanahan and John Elway in Denver, back-to-back Super Bowl win teams.
If you're a young kid out there, put away your Twitter accounts if you want to be a pro football player. Somebody's going to hack your account; somebody's going to cause you problems.
You have to help your players understand that when they speak to the media, or when they tweet or text or e-mail, a lot of times, they become public knowledge.
I love Olivier Vernon, and I wish he knew how much I appreciate him by just watching him.
I'm a backup quarterback at the University of Dayton. I was a one-year starter in high school. I think I got the job in high school because our quarterback left and went to another school.
I got kicked out of the league because I had a hard time sustaining at the quarterback position.
To be a good analyst, you need to know what the trends are and what teams are doing.
I had all kinds of different quarterbacks. But we never drafted a first-rounder.
If it wasn't for football, a lot of the best times of my life, my brother's life, my dad's life, wouldn't exist.
Simon Cowell is a pretty rough guy.
