Jason Witten

We know it's a young man's game.

My job is to be able to perform for three hours or three and a half hours every Sunday and I've got to work my tail off to get to the point where I can do it, and that's what motivates me.

You've got to be able to compete and play at a high level.

That's what a team does is stay together.

I think you've got to have an unbelievable amount of passion and love for the game, even though it's a job and there's a lot of things that go on in the business side of it.

You got to be able to listen to what the coaches are saying and not get your feelings hurt.

If you want to grow as a player, it takes commitment.

I have a deep desire to have success, to play a high level, and to win championships.

He could rush the passer, he could bull you, he could beat you speed inside and quickness. Those are long days when you had Michael Strahan lining up right over your head for 60 minutes, because most defensive ends are good at one or the other. Michael was really good at both.

I'm a steak and potato guy.

I think Tony Gonzalez always set the standard. He was the guy that, I think for all of us, when I came in that was really kinda taking this league over as the tight end position. I think Shannon Sharpe was another one.

It's pretty cool to play against your idol.

When a new coaching staff comes in, there are a lot of changes that happen with that.

I am a gamer. I became a gamer since I had kids... much more than I used to be when I'd play 'Madden' and 'NCAA Football' in high school and college.

Fantasy football is good for the fans and good for the game.

Head coach is the leader. He's the guy that sets the tone for the whole organization as far as the structure of the football side of things.

I've spent my entire adulthood in pro football.

The mental focus it takes to compete against the best players in the world is not easy to maintain. Developing mental toughness is a learned trait, and if you can't develop it in your pursuit of success, you likely won't last in any competitive line of work for more than a cup of coffee.

Negative social media can ruin a player. Reading your mentions? It's poison.

A player checking Twitter at halftime? I've seen it. A player tweeting out a grievance with an organization about playing time or how he is being utilized? I see it far too often. But the most concerning? Watching a really talented player corrupt his mind and confidence by reading all the critiques from anonymous football experts around the world.

I've seen the negative impact social media can have, particularly on younger players, who grew up with Twitter and Instagram as an integral part of life.

It's special to me, a privilege being a role model. I take pride in being a good one.

People talk about how precious the relationships of teammates are and the brotherhood and bond.

Granddad taught me a long time ago, act like you've been there before.

I played to have a chance to win and be around guys that have that same commitment.

When you break a collarbone or do something like that, that's out of your control.

Fortunately for me, my grandfather gave us a life I could never dream of. He was my high school football coach, my best friend, my school teacher - really my dad.

You have to be able to recognize the value of the people around you.

The great ones hate to lose more than they love to win.

The Cowboys have done a good job at developing young players.

You want to be able to run seam routes and do all that, but to have something that you can hang your hat on and know that it's going to convert first downs, that's what tight ends are paid to do. And I've certainly taken a lot of pride in that over the years.

My parents getting divorced gave me the opportunity to play for my granddad and to meet my wife. I fell in the draft but I ended up in Dallas.

The things I learned early on from my granddad, the things he instilled in me, are still to this day a huge part and a huge priority of my own life. Even the little stuff like my granddad always telling me to tuck in my shirt at church. It sticks with you.

Early on, yeah, my life was a bit of a roller coaster.

I have so much respect for this game and the process that goes into playing at a high level.

Aaron Rodgers, he throws that back-shoulder throw so well.

Excellence is a high performance over a long period of time. That's what I've tried to focus on.

For me, I just focus on playing, playing at a high level. And when you can't do that any longer, you've got to get off the train.

In football there for a long time, I knew even if it was a bad day, a bad day at the office, it was still going to be really good in most cases.

Look, you cannot try to be somebody that you're not.

I've always felt like I know how much I've put into every offseason.

My brother one time after a little league basketball game, I think he messed up or something had happened in the game, ends up getting in an argument with my dad. Ultimately he gets pushed down and he ends up cutting the back of his head. He had six or seven stitches over a 10-year-old basketball game. That was tough to watch.

Those heartaches, those cries in your life that you go through, I thought that every kid goes through them. I knew I didn't have much, but I didn't know there was another side out there. I thought one present for Christmas was the way it is.

I have 16 years in Dallas. I would love finish it off there. But I also understand and am not naive enough to think that... it may need to be somewhere else. I think that's how this business works. So you have to be open to that idea, for sure.

I know this: the opportunity to play, when that leaves, it is over.

A big part of me has been tied to coaching and I want to get into coaching and make a difference that way.

I just want to be deliberate in the process of knowing what it takes to play.

I'm always going to be a Cowboy.