I'm a writer, not a professional runner. It's fun and it helps me write. I need powerful concentration.

I think history is collective memories. In writing, I'm using my own memory, and I'm using my collective memory.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm a novelist right now. There is no definite career reason why I became a writer. Something happened, and I became a writer. And now I'm a successful writer.

I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high.

I think success is the biggest challenge you have to handle in the National Football League; that's something we talk about a lot.

If I'm not playing football, I'm preparing to play football. That's kind of how I kind of view my life.

Athletes are going to tease each other. Football players want to be baseball players. Baseball players want to be football players. Basketball players want to be baseball players, and vice versa.

The war in Afghanistan is too important to be reduced to a political football. We are fighting there to protect our national security. We are confronting the Taliban-led insurgency to prevent terrorists returning to that country.