Jason Witten

We all want more money, it just doesn't work that way.

When I've had injuries where there's nothing structurally wrong and I know it's just about gutting through? I have the ability to say, 'Get better. I'm good.'

You want to fight for everything you can get, every yard, every drive, every opportunity that you have.

I took pride in knowing, 'Hey, my numbers may be down, but football guys know I'm playing at a high level.'

We all get motivated differently and I think as you get older, you'd be foolish not to draw on your experiences from the past.

You just constantly are evaluating and learning and drawing players and coverages and talking through it. It's part of making you the player, how you want to approach the game.

There's so many ways to be passionate about what you do.

My whole approach in calling a game is that you want to be fun and entertaining, but you also want to be the voice of reason too.

There's something to be said with your quarterback your leader being there on Day 1.

My career has been defined, in a good way, on the option route. And a lot of times, it's a bang-bang play. It's a great play because it can convert first downs. But at the same time, you don't get a lot of those opportunities in the open field.

My game's really never referenced as shake 'n' bake.

Being a fan of the game, you always look up to those types of guys that really have given you an opportunity.

Yeah, I probably talk a little bit of trash.

I just want to exhaust every opportunity to play and obviously try to play in a game like this - the Super Bowl.

Once you're a player, you always have a little bit of that in you.

Since I was 15 or 16 years old, my grandfather was my high school football coach and my life's been ball. Dinners we're talking about ball and college we're talking about ball.

Fitting in with teammates has never been an issue for me. It's always something that came very natural.

I always say that I continue to set the standard really high for myself, but you don't get into a catch count or any of that stuff. I think it's just in how you play, how you approach the game.

Any competitor, I think, wants to be the best every time they're out there.

I think any player would say that they want their coaches' respect, they want their teammates' respect, and they want their opponent to respect them.

As a kid, you just want to play football. For me one day it will end, but until the end I love getting the opportunity to go out there and play at a high level.

Look, I had a great experience in the booth. I saw a different perspective.

When you call a game, it's almost like you're doing a three-hour movie and the production of it all, living in the moment in real time, the replays, all the intricacies that go into putting a game in a broadcast. It's not just 100 percent football.

If you're in the NFL for more than five minutes you see that you can be here today and gone tomorrow. That's why I played the way I did. I think that's why I worked hard to not miss a game, fight through injuries and all that stuff because when it's gone, it's gone.

Every time an older player gets toward the end of their career, they're always talking about 'I feel better now than I did 10 years ago.'

Wins in this league are precious.

I am extremely flattered to be chosen the 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year from such an esteemed group of nominees.

Like others before me, I have a great opportunity as an NFL player to make a difference in the lives of others.

I work hard every day not only to be a success on the football field and a credit to my team - but to be a good husband, father, son, grandson, teammate - to be the kind of man that is as respected as Walter Payton was.

I really think for any tight end around my age, Shannon Sharpe was the guy you looked to in Denver, him and Elway and what they were able to achieve.

Being famous is fun.

There's nothing better than having a positive impact on kids.

Ideally, if you ask most tight ends, they would say we want the defender on us early. The reason for that is we feel like, for one, we know where we're going. Two, we can attack leverage, it declares itself if it's truly man coverage. We can work the release.

Like most tight ends I was a pass-receiving tight end coming into the league.

There comes a point in every season for every team that you start to separate yourself, and you see the league do that every year.

A lot of guys I've seen in my career that played at a high level and were done, they moved on, never thought another day about it.

You try to make the decisions that you think are best in realtime.

I love to play football. And I think anybody that's ever been my teammate or I've been theirs understands how much I love that.

I don't believe in moral victories. I don't think in pro ball they exist, and they shouldn't exist.

There's high expectations for Cowboys. There's been some great quarterbacks who have come through that organization.

Hopefully I can play until I'm 40.

There are a lot of good tight ends.

Every time you go out, you want to help your team, play your best and don't let any opportunities slide by.

So much is made of catches and doing all of that. But inside a team, the things you remember are the moments when nobody thinks you can do it and you try to rally your team and try to add some inspiration for them.

Anytime you kind of take the road that I've taken, people don't know what to expect.

Look, it's a show-me game. I've got to be able to show it.

From minute one, I thought that after I called a game, I said 'Man, I thought I would enjoy calling a game a little more than I probably did.' I thought I would enjoy that part of it. I didn't have the fulfillment that I thought I probably would.

I'm going to be humble, I'm going to be accountable, do it with a smile on my face, make other people around me better.

There's an old saying in football - the circus doesn't stay in town forever. The older you get, the more you realize there's a deeper meaning. It's better to leave 3 hours too soon than a minute too late.

I have a lot of respect for every opponent. I don't know if there's just one who I say, 'that guy intimidates me.' When I was young and first came into the league, Ray Lewis was that guy. I was young.