Athlete

Joe Mauer, as a local guy, I've looked up to him.

Something I remind myself every day, just do your job to the best of your ability and that's the most important thing.

You have to be able to make plays.

Being a part of the practice squad was a tough year for me.

I feel like I've proven that I can be a starter in this league, and I want to be respected in that way.

I have a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to get better at, which is good.

As a competitor, as an athlete, you want the ball to come to you.

There is no better feeling than coming into a tough environment and winning.

I had a coach when I was getting recruited say maybe you should play basketball at a Division III level, because you're not good enough to play football in college.

I really try to avoid looking at or thinking about my stats because I'm just trying to do my part in winning games.

I just want to make sure that I'm competing every day and giving my best effort, because everything else just falls into place.

I had no idea the Vikings were interested. I was actually expecting other teams because the Green Bay Packers and three or four other teams asked for film after the combine in Dallas, and the Vikings weren't one of them.

I always played 'FIFA' and stuff like that growing up, and seeing those guys celebrate, I kind of got inspiration from that.

We actually had a toilet on the sideline in college. We had like a little mini-toilet; we'd go and flush it.

I love to compete and I hate failing.

I have a lot of confidence. I'm a competitor.

It's really nice to be able to go into the offseason and attack the training as soon as possible.

You have to have a great offensive line, great quarterback and guys around you that believe in you and help you.

For us, we're homebodies. My wife and I like to be at home with family.

It doesn't matter who you are in this league: You're always trying to have a bigger role. Anybody who said they weren't trying to do that would be lying.