Marquise Goodwin

I like track and field for the simple reason that I determine my own outcome. I don't rely on my coach or the president or the CEO making a decision. I'm kind of like the CEO of my own corporation.

I've stayed sharp, basically through football workouts. I cater those workouts to track-specific things, so I don't lose the rhythm I've always had to keep football and track in balance.

I have definitely got more than a few pieces of cheetah in my wardrobe.

All I can focus on is what I can control and that's being happy. My own happiness.

It won't change that I'm an Olympian if you call me a football player, and it won't change that I'm an NFL player if you call me a track and field athlete.

People who don't understand will try to label me as one or the other. I'm an athlete and a lot of people just have to come to terms with that. I do well in football, I do well in track. It is what it is.

I love long-jumping, and if I'm granted the opportunity without repercussions, then I will pursue it further, but I'm obligated to Buffalo Bills football and that's the main focus.

I always dreamed of doing this, being able to do track and field and the NFL at the same time.

My wife at home. She didn't have a pregnant belly anymore, nobody to cling to, no shoulder to cry on, no one to talk to, while I'm at work getting the love and everybody just patting me on the back. I was mad. I felt that I should be at home helping my best friend get past the grief.

I chose to leave my wife at the hospital after prematurely birthing our first baby due to incompetent cervix, which resulted in a fatality, to play in a football game. I felt like I had to prove to my coaches and new team that I was dedicated to winning and I wouldn't let anything keep me from that goal, not even my family.

I don't want to get too much on the football side and gain weight, so I'm as fast on the field.

My teammates give me a hard time about that all the time, 'Hey, if you catch the ball and get in an open field, I want you to long jump from the 10 into the end zone.'... I might make it happen one of these days.

I really don't focus on the competition at all. Like even on the football field it's me versus me.

What I do in long jump and track and field, it definitely correlates with what I do as a receiver. With being fast and being explosive and putting my foot down. It's the same mechanics that I use in football and track.

At the end of the day, all I can focus on is doing what I need to do, as a player, to help the team win.

After choosing football so many times, I feel like I'm inclined to make the right decision by finally choosing my family first, and that's real talk.

I'm thankful for the relationship that I established with guys here in my time in Buffalo.

It's pretty satisfying to make it through a season, only missing one game year.

Dealing with injuries each year, it's kind of like a given that it'll happen. You've just got to push through it.

It's either join the workforce or become a professional athlete, and I'd rather be a pro athlete.

You never know, God can take my ability away any day, so I just thank God for everything he does for me, and for putting my sister in my life and motivating me.

They drafted me in the third round to come play receiver, return some kicks and that's my job. The Olympics are behind me and I'm just looking forward to helping the Bills.

I really don't have to disprove anything - I'm in the NFL, so whoever is thinking of me as a track guy is worried about the wrong thing.

My sister means the world to me.

With faith you can do anything and with love you can do even more.

I knew when I met Morgan that she was the perfect girl because she was in college, she was an athlete and we had the same morals and beliefs and I knew that she would be a great mom.

I would give my life up if I could have a boy.

The number of really good athletes is decreasing. People don't want to work as hard anymore and they complain. In the future, there probably won't be as many good athletes because they won't work as hard. The world is getting lazy.

Obviously, I'm going to graduate college. So if sports don't work out, I'll have something to fall back on.

I'm just blessed to be able to be alive, to be able-bodied and be able to play this game.

Never in my life have I failed a test. I have never been opposed to testing and, in fact, have always been compliant with each and every protocol and policy associated with my competitive career in track and field.

Football is my deal. Track is my fun.

My goal is to stay healthy and win games, that's it.

I'm tough. I have taken on hits, I've blocked. I even got MVP for blocking one game and I didn't even touch a ball that game.

I have proved I have more than linear speed. Track guys are known for not being able to catch, for not having good hands.

I'm definitely not a track guy playing football. I'm a football guy that just happens to jump really far.

I'm looking to run the fastest, but I want to prove that I'm more than a speed guy.

When the ball is in the air, my job is to catch it, no matter where it's at, no matter how it is, no matter how difficult or how easy, you've just got to make it.

Like you see in the fairy tales, that's how it planned out in my head. Kids, little white picket fence, the American dream.

I'm always hesitant to make any serious moves because you never know how the N.F.L. will treat you, you know?

I told myself at some point that I've got to hold it down for my family. I can't let work and the check and the money dictate decisions that I truly want to make.

A lot of sprinters aren't football players. I'm a football player. That's the difference between me and a sprinter. My knowledge of the game. I'm totally different than any other track guy.

The type of working hours you put in sometimes is overlooked. The diet. The little sacrifices that you take from your family, people don't take that into account.

I don't think anybody in any sport ever sucks. You're an athlete. You're a professional.

A lot of people think track, you just run, that's all you do. No. There's a lot of technical aspects to it as well. A sprinter is not just going to get out of the blocks and start running. You do that, you're going to get embarrassed every time.

I have the track label on me. I'm the track guy. So I have to go above and beyond the expectations of what other people will limit their bodies to.

I'm not limited to running or jumping or catching footballs.

I've always wanted to be what my father never was to me.

I'd love it to be in Buffalo. I love football. But I know how important it is to live your life like you want to.

I don't compare myself with anybody.