I came out of my professional athlete career with a 450 credit score, no money in the bank to show for it, but I had an Ivy League degree. So I put that Dartmouth degree to good use and got a job on Wall Street. I hated it but used the time to make connections and become financially literate.

I went to Dartmouth College, graduated, and had the opportunity to play two professional sports - I played for the New England Patriots in the NFL and professional lacrosse for the Boston Blazers. I had an injury, so I had to stop so I could heal. But when I was playing football, I wasn't making a lot of money; I wasn't a superstar.

When I started acting, I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be a character read and not a leading man. I didn't want to do the same thing again and again. I wanted to push and challenge myself. I find and embrace new and unique challenges in all mediums.

My mother and father instilled in me a sense of purpose not defined by today's street obsession with bling, cars or cribs.

I don't like the word 'balance.' To me, that somehow conjures up conflict between work and family... as long as we think of these things as conflicting, we will never have happiness. True happiness comes from integration... of work, family, self, community.

For us, it wasn't important to have a big house, a few cars, always have the newest clothes. Solidarity as a family was important. We were there for each other and always will be.

Family is hugely important to me, because like I said, it takes a village to raise a child. That's my theme. That's how I really feel about life.

Michael Bennet can't possibly understand the impact of flooding our job market with workers that aren't citizens of this country, and when we fight, they call us racist. When did wanting to feed your family become racist?