It's been a tremendous ride. My 15 years, my 15 minutes of fame, is up.

I've given everything I can possible to the game, on and off the field.

For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.

It's been a tremendous ride. My 15 years, my 15 minutes of fame, is up.

Always, through my whole life, I've had a thirst for knowledge.

Consistency is one of the hallmarks of my career. You knew what you were going to get out of E-Smith every game, every year, no matter if I was 22, 21 or 35 years old.

Demand excellence.

I don't have to get up in the morning and go beat up my body like I used to. I don't have to be out there in August in 108 degree weather down in Texas.

I don't have to put on shoulder pads and run out there and let somebody hit on me a little bit.

I enjoyed being a teammate of Deion Sanders. He brings different elements to the game that many people would not even realize, and to watch and witness a superior talent like him and watch him prepare and train, and study the game is truly amazing.

I have achieved everything that I ever wanted to accomplish in this game and more so, for me, I have been fulfilled.

I have been a Cowboys fan since I was a little bitty boy. And my dream has finally become a reality, of not only just playing a professional, becoming a professional athlete, but playing for the team that I always wanted to play for.

I know how important it is to have your quarterback standing upright. Matter of fact, I know how important it is not to allow someone hit on him period because I want him to think that this pocket is completely safe, no one is going to get to me and I got all the time in the world to make whatever decisions I need to make.

I used to imagine what it would be like to do what Jim Brown was doing. I used to imagine what it would be like to be like a Tony Dorsett. I used to imagine what it would be like to be like a Walter Payton. I was imagining Emmitt Smith doing exactly what they were doing.

I used to send Tony Romo texts throughout the season just to encourage him, just to wish him luck and just to tell him to get on his offensive line. I hated watching this young man get sacked as much as he did, especially when it came down to big games.

I was actually looking for answers where I kept asking myself - what am I doing?

I was going through a little bit of turbulence in my career. And so, it's funny how turbulence itself will make you hold onto something for security. And so the only thing I knew is trust in the Lord and lean not unto your own heart, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path.

I'm an enigma, an unknown. You can't really figure out what I'm going to do next. I like it like that.

I've learned that football sometimes was an outlet. It was a way for me to release anger, release frustration.

If I didn't have a scholarship to go to the University of Florida or any school, I probably would have considered the military because my family could not afford to send me to college.

If you know anything about me, I've never been a trash-talker. That's not even part of my DNA.

If you're not settled spiritually, things can be a little bit more chaotic than normal.

My father is Emmit and my grandfather is Emmit, but I wanted something extra so I could separate my Emmitt from the rest of them. Even though on my birth certificate it has one T, I just added the extra T for me.

My mom said, 'Don't get married. You're too young. Go out there and experience what life has to offer.' And I did.

One thing I can say about the Dallas Cowboys: They have always had talent around them. They have been one of the most talented football teams in all of football.

Sixteen games, to me, is a long enough schedule for anybody. We're already concerning ourselves with head injuries and bodily harm to all of the professional athletes. Add to extra games to it, (and) you are just increasing those risks.

Vision gets the dreams started. Dreaming employs your God-given imagination to reinforce the vision. Both are part of something I believe is absolutely necessary to building the life of a champion, a winner, a person of high character who is consistently at the top of whatever game he or she is in.

Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.

I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.

Dreaming means ˜rehearsing' what you see, playing it over and over in your mind until it becomes as real to you as your life right now.

You cannot change the stripes of a leopard.

We are all born naked into this world, but each of us is fully clothed in potential.

If you want to stay perfect, you cannot go undefeated with a blemish on your record.

Maybe it's my 15 minutes of fame, maybe it's longer.

The present condition of fame is merely fashion.

The fame aspect of winning the Masters... besides being married and becoming a father, that's a strong third there.

Fame and tranquility can never be bedfellows.

The best people renounce all for one goal, the eternal fame of mortals; but most people stuff themselves like cattle.

I wanted to be an actress. In college I was a serious feminist and very political. I was determined to get one thing out of my career and that was respect. I didn't want money. I didn't care about fame.

I was the executive editor on a little magazine called Greek Accent, whose only claim to fame is that its art director went on to be the art director of Discover for many years.

But once I acclimated and really used fame for what it was offering me as a tool to serve my life purpose of inspiring and contributing, then it started to get fun again.

Every day I work at not taking this fame thing seriously. Fortunately I have a great group of friends who help me do this.

I've experienced as much fame as I ever want to.

There is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work.

It was never the fame or fortune that drove me to act. It was something I love and enjoy doing it. A lot of people identify who they are by what they do and that's not me. It's what I do but not who I am. Who I am is a parent. I'm a family man.

I'm the age now that Rock was when he picked me up, so I can understand how he felt - how his fame limited his freedom. You get kinder as you go along.

Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.

Sometimes I'm uncomfortable with the level of fame I've got! It all depends on the day and what's going on. I don't desire any more fame. I don't need it.

Luckily, thanks to the way my parents taught me, I think I can handle the fame in the right manner.