We wanted someone who was a real industry insider, someone who could hit the ground running without a long ramp-up time. I think you'll find this is big news in the industry because she's popular and well-known.

I thought to myself at least a couple of times after a hit, 'Boy, that's going to leave a mark. I'm going to pay for that some day down the road.' We didn't talk about spinal compression. I'm sure I lost at least 2 inches in height in my career. I'm barely hanging onto 6-2 now.

We want to hit the ground running once the money comes in. Rather than sending out a slow and gradual stream of funding, the plan now is to let a torrent of funding flow like waters set free from a sluice gate.

You go for it. All the stops are out. Caution is to the wind, and you're battling with everything you have. That's the real fun of the game.

Everything else is sacrificed to that end. But all of a sudden something like that happens, and if you have any air of intelligence, you've been shaken down to the very core of yourself. I know that happened to me; I don't know that I was ever the same after that. After that, a lot of things became clear to me outside of football. ... You have an aura of invincibility when you're a great athlete, and all of a sudden, wow ... there's a wakeup call that your aura is a fantasy.

It's something that traumatizes an entire team, as well it should. It's just not something you easily get over.