The accumulation of knowledge is a powerful thing.
I think some of the best pieces of advice for me was when I talked to some of the great players who have had success in this league how much they emphasized the importance of rest, that you can't just go 100 miles an hour all 12 months of the year every day and just keep going. That is a recipe for burnout.
And I think at the end of my life, it's not going to be about what I did for myself, but what I did for others. Maybe it's staying after practice to do hand signals with the guys to help them get caught up to speed. To make it about others - I think that's what leadership is all about, quarterbacking is all about.
I really put the medical school thing on hold and really chased after my football dream. And I guess I'm still chasing. I'm eight years in the NFL, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am.
Coming out of high school, however, I wasn't a decorated recruit. As a result, I found myself one month from signing day with only two scholarship offers and they were from the Mid-American Conference.
Like everybody else, I am naturally selfish, and so I'm going to think about myself.
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was a college football junkie. My mom attended the University of Iowa and so I can remember I used to run around the backyard in a number 6, Tim Dwight Iowa jersey when I was very little.
I've called the spring game for Big Ten Network for Michigan State. It's a great opportunity to still stay around the game, to be able to feel like you're close to the action. I'm very analytical, so I think it fits the way I think.
I think that being a Christian, a Jesus follower, teaches you to be selfless, to be hard-worker, to be tough, to be persistent and I don't know a single coach in the country that doesn't want those qualities from his players.
When you go to college, you're on your own. It's you and God. It's a question of what are you made of and how much is God a part of your life. So when I went off to college, I knew that was going to be the case.
I want to be where I'm wanted, and that's what I've said all along. When a team is willing to step up and commit to me fully for the long haul, then why would I want to be anywhere else?
I'm going to do all I can, control what I can control and I think one thing I can do beyond just playing the best I can is to start really coaching and leading other people so that I can never walk off the field saying, 'Hey, I did my part but so-and-so didn't,' that can't happen.
I mean, my dad, is really the biggest leadership influence in my life and I believe Jesus was the greatest leaders that ever lived and I think He had the most impact on humanity of anybody who ever walked the planet.
I think I play better when people say keep showing us what you've got, keep showing us. And whatever's going to get me to play at a high level is what I want to do.