There was no demonstration of love I could read as a little boy.

We lived in the shadow of our rich relations. Mother was intent on keeping up with the people she was raised with, which was impossible. My father was a physician who wanted to be a rabbi but was weighed down by a great sense of obligation to support his family in style.

Six months after we started, in 1964, there was a day when we sold only seven sandwiches. If we'd taken all the money from the register, we couldn't have paid an employee, much less the food or the rent or all that. It could have been a turning point. We could have given up.

Money is important, but the most important thing for me is to play football, and then I'm happy. OK, you want to earn a good amount of money to be secure, but if I chose money, I would go to Russia and already have a lot more. I like to play football, and that is it.

I've stopped apologizing to myself for having this great period of success and financial acceptance.

American Idol' is a machine. It's a machine that's making a lot of money, that's selling a lot of product. It's 'American Marketing.'