Zach Ertz

If I'm out wide, and they put a linebacker on me, I think that's a mismatch every time, regardless of who is on me.

Anything that's truly competitive, I love.

I love sports, and I'm a hugely competitive person.

I feel no matter who I'm going against that I can get open in a number of ways.

I want to be out there every play.

I want to prove to myself and everybody else how good I can be, and I'm willing to work as hard as I need to to achieve that goal.

I take every rep personally. If somebody beats me, I'm going to take that personally.

You have to have confidence in this league. Everybody's so good.

If you don't have the confidence, that's half the battle. You're going to be defeated before you even start.

I'm never going to be satisfied with where I am as a player.

I always want to improve in all my facets of the game, whether it's the receiving or blocking aspects.

I think you have to have a high football IQ. Obviously, you have to have the physical ability to run fast and get open. But you also have to have a high football IQ.

You got to know what the defense looks for and use that against them.

You can't be a tight end and just be viewed as a receiver.

I just like going against the Redskins, I guess.

You're going to have to grind it out on some drives.

Red zone, third down, I want to be the guy who gets the number called. I put a lot of pride into what I do as a receiver in those situations - using my body when we need to make a play.

Football is such a traditionalist sport. Whatever happened in the past is usually going to continue. But the bullying has no place in any sport. That's the bottom line.

I still remember going to school on game day with my high school jersey on.

My role isn't just receiving.

I want to be the guy on third down, whenever the coaches need a play, they call my number.

Don't live and die with every play.

I'm very confident in my abilities.

Early in my career, if I didn't get the ball, or if something would happen, or the media would say something, I'd take it personally.

You've got to perfect your craft.

I want to be the guy in the red-zone, believe me.

I don't want to be viewed as a weakness in any means. I don't want to be viewed as a weakness in the passing game. I definitely don't want to be viewed as a weakness in the running game.

My wife Julie and I are driven to make positive and enduring change in our beloved city of Philadelphia, in California, in Haiti, and around the world.

I love football, but I also want to give back. I want to take care of kids and single moms, so it's not only about playing football. I want my life to matter in that way.

The city of Philadelphia is all about the underdog.

Glute bridges make sure my hips are staying in line. Making sure that I'm not putting added stress on the hamstrings, hip flexors, or groin. Being able to stabilize the hips is pretty much the center of playing football, so you can stay healthy.

When you're blocking someone, or when you're running, it's all about putting force into the ground, and that's the epitome of the back squat.

Being a tight end, you have to be able to do everything. You have to be able to run routes; you have to be able to block, pass-protect, and run with the ball after a catch. So, that's how I attack my workouts - focusing on doing everything.

Big hits are part of the game. So, paramount to every time I train is just to focus on staying healthy and doing everything I can to stay healthy.

I can't dwell on having a couple drops. It's going to happen - it's the NFL.

My relationship with Jesus has changed my life and, really, the foundation of who my wife and I are as people.

If you look at the great tight ends in this league, the first thing that stands out is touchdowns. Just like at fantasy football. That's where a lot of guys get the respect, with touchdowns... That's the 'fantasy points' that everyone points out.

Can't ever catch enough balls.

That's something that I do pride myself on: making those tough and contested catches, whether it's in the red-zone or on third down.

I don't care about the money. Honestly. All I care about is winning football games.

I've never played this game for financial success.

Brent Celek is a heck of a blocker, James Casey is a heck of a blocker.

No one wants to be 13 and not able to eat their ice cream after dinner.

When I was younger, I initially hated football because they put me on the offensive line because I was the biggest kid.

It's awesome being married to Julie, being able to support the people we love doing what they love to do.

My seventh-grade year, I played football. I was, like, 15 pounds overweight, so I had to lose a ton of weight. They put me at left tackle; they put me on the defensive line. I absolutely hated football. I didn't want to play again. Eighth grade year, I didn't play.

It's not a goal of mine to only play 45 percent of snaps. It's to be on the field for every single play.

As athletes, just looking at it from an outside perspective, it's really remarkable, the impact you could have on somebody that you have no idea.

It truly takes a village to become a professional athlete.

When I was 16 years old, watching football for the first time, the Cowboys were always on TV - unfortunately, looking back at it now - but Jason Witten was the guy who carried himself, in my opinion as a 16-year-old kid, the right way. He was a phenomenal tight end.