Did I think it was hypocritical that a professional league making hundreds of millions of dollars off beer sponsorships was telling me not to drink? Yes.

In the past, I've been a selfish player. I'll definitely admit that.

Our job as directors is to really give the audience a sense that all this exists in a universe somewhere. Even if it's a slightly more stylized or comedic world than we live in, it's still really important that it has an authenticity and integrity to it.

I failed myself when I ruined a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be Robert Griffin III's running mate during his Heisman Trophy-winning season at Baylor.

I'd been at Chelsea for a while and progressed quite quickly until I got to the first team, and then it was different. I was used to playing every minute of every game, but when you get to that level, the step up is massive. There are world-class players in front of you, and no matter how talented you are, breaking in is difficult.

I never thought of what I was doing as a way to sell the NFL. I was making movies about a sport that I loved, about players and coaches that I respected. I wanted to convey my love of the game through film. And most artists convey their love through art. And my art and my love was expressed through film.

There have been times - and not just on 'The Newsroom,' but on 'The West Wing,' 'Sports Night,' 'Studio 60'... - where it was hard to look the cast and crew in the eye, when I put a script on the table that I knew just wasn't good enough.

Your child probably won't get into the Ivy League or win a sports scholarship. At age 24, he might be back in his childhood bedroom, in debt, after a mediocre college career. Raise him so that, if that happens, it will still have been worth it.