never dreamed about winning a national championship. It happened before I even thought it was possible. What I was dreaming about each year, if you want to call it that, was trying to produce the best basketball team we could be.

I have always believed the sport of football is an 'all-in' proposition — if a 100% competitive commitment isn't there, you won't succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game. There is a physical, mental and emotional challenge EVERY single day that has allowed me to maximize my highest potential. And I have tried my very best these past 22 years. There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life. This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention. I've done a lot of reflecting the past week and have asked myself difficult questions. And I am so proud of what we have achieved. My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors, and fans deserve 100% of me, but right now, it's best I leave the field of play to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes.

"I want to do it for my family and coaches obviously, but I also want to do it for myself. I've just been through so much.

I didn't end it <nowiki>[my career at Ohio State]</nowiki> the way I'd like to end it, but I ended the way I had to. That's a bad memory, but at the same time, we made it to the national championship game. I scored in the national championship game. That's the only way I can remember it.

After my football career, I'm hoping to give back to the community. I'm hoping to probe into young talents, and I want to use my experiences that I've got in football to change people's lives.

I'm a pretty direct man. You say something I like, I'll tell you so; you say something I don't like, I'll tell you also. A diplomat I'm not. So I'll tell you right out that there are no secret or hidden or financial or philosophical reasons behind this. I just don't feel like playing anymore. As for coaching — that prime incubator of ulcers — no, thank you. I don't want to coach anymore, either. I never considered myself primarily a coach, anyway. Anytime I was ever around a group of coaches I'd feel nervous — all that nonsense about how to "handle" kids, how to "motivate" them! I was a player. Now I'm not a player or a coach anymore.

We knew that we would probably have to win the game to progress, but I was injured and could not play. That was very frustrating, sitting on the sidelines and not being able to help the team.

I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my body.

When I was playing football I never enjoyed it that much, I was never happy … if I scored two goals, I wanted a third, I always wanted more. Now it’s all over I can look back with satisfaction, but I never felt that way when I was playing.

My older brother did not want me to carry on with football, fearing that I would become a tomboy.

I hated every minute of it. But I said to myself, 'Suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion'.

I'm trying to wean myself off sports, it's too time consuming. I don't watch football anymore, I gave that up. I got tired of the interviews after the games, because the winning players always give credit to God, and the losers blame themselves. You know, just once I'd like to hear a player say, 'Yeah, we were in the game, until Jesus made me fumble. He hates our team.'

"As Pat Riley, the basketball coach, said, "Anytime you stop striving to get better, you're bound to get worse.

I never dreamed about winning a national championship. What I was dreaming about was trying to produce the best basketball team we could be. My thoughts were directed toward preparation, our journey, not the results of the effort. That would simply have shifted my attention to the wrong area, hoping for something out of my control.