The Vietnam veteran and former Steelers star running back reflected on his life and overcoming challenges.

The Vietnam veteran and former Steelers star running back reflected on his life and overcoming challenges.
On fame: "That was my 12-year career in that highlight film you just saw -- three minutes, five plays, all shot from different angles so it looks like more."
On leadership:" A drill sergeant in Vietnam told me that leadership is that when you are put in charge, then by God, you take charge, and have the courage to do the right thing."
On quitting: "If you quit, then you make the coaches' decision for them. You cut yourself from the team and that's a decision they don't have to make."
On change: "The fundamentals of football haven't changed. Everything else has. In Superbowl IX against the Vikings, the Vikings' largest defensive lineman weighed 265 pounds; our largest offensive lineman weighed 255 pounds. High school kids weigh that much now. The average salary of an NFL player that year was $60,000. Mine was $25,000. In last year's Super Bowl, linemen weighed 330 pounds plus. The average NFL salary was $1.3 million."
On football: "Football offers hope. You hope to win, you hope to overcome loss, you hope to do better than last year, you hope to learn something. As incredible as it sounds, can you believe there are some people in the world who don't care about football?"
On linemen: "Brad [quarterback Terry Bradshaw] changed the game when he looked at the offensive line and asked, 'What play do you guys want to run?' I was standing right beside him and I thought, 'Why are you asking linemen? They get hit [in the head] on every play.'"
On Bradshaw: "Brad is most proud of the fact that he called his own plays. It's in his bio in the Hall of Fame. And every Sunday on Fox, somewhere during a game . . . he makes a point to say ... but I called my own plays. What he doesn't say is we only had four -- but he did mix them up pretty well."
On losing: "After a 1-13 season you develop a survival mentality. You stick together and say, 'Come on, guys, they can't get rid of all of us.'"
On winning: "A lot of effort goes into winning. Winning a Super Bowl doesn't just happen -- as all you Browns fans in the room well know."