Being a successful team is maybe not enough. It's about setting a standard, not just for ourselves but also for the youth that is coming through at Manchester City.

My mum was always more pushing me towards the academic side; she wasn't really interested in me having a professional football career.

Guardiola has come to City with a very unique style. And he wants to continue that philosophy. We had to work to adapt to his style.

Over the past decade, I've been lucky to have witnessed and played a part in Manchester City's rise as a club and a brand.

I think the thing about that was I was always willing to work; I was not the fastest or biggest player but I was determined to be the best football player I could be on the football field and I think I was able to accomplish that through hard work.

There's this American dream to put enough away that you can golf and build a birdhouse or just be in a Barcalounger watching football all day. I'll never be that guy. And I'm not really sure the people who have that are all that happy. Our desires as a man are to work, plow ahead, and overcome conflict.

I look at my elders as the leaders.

As our leaders in Washington confront tough decisions about our budget priorities, I urge them to continue federal funding for public broadcasting.