Jimmy Graham

“I'm a multi-racial person - I'm black and white - and growing up in North Carolina, I've dealt with a lot of racism. Growing up as a kid, I've seen it. I've been through it in many forms and fashions.”

“The first four years of my career, I never complained. I never demanded. I never said anything about money.”

“Seaplanes are like the taxis of the Pacific Northwest.”

“My knee injury was something serious. To go six months before I could even jog is pretty serious.”

“I played college basketball. When I first decided I was going to play football, there were a lot of people telling me that I wasn't going to make it.”

“It just feels amazing to have that moment when you realize things are coming together for your team.”

“For me, trying the NFL and trying this football thing, because of the home and what I went through in there, to me, it was no big deal. It was just another opportunity for me. I didn't see that bigger, grandiose picture of it, I just took it one day at a time, like how I took it in the group home.”

“All I'm about is winning.”

“In football, you have to look out for yourself and know when that ride is over. That extra inch after you've already got the first down - what's that going to get you? Not much.”

“Logistically, moving from Miami and New Orleans all the way to Seattle isn't the easiest thing. Really, for my dog, she was kind of the biggest hurdle to get here.”

“When I was a kid, I used to think about what my worth was.”

“When somebody tells you that - 'You've never played this sport, but I think you can be a playmaker' - you think the guy's crazy.”

“In my life, the sky is literally the ceiling.”

“I'm a fairly emotional guy and a fairly kind of aggressive player who some people - especially defensive guys - don't like on the field.”

“The best way to motivate me is to tell me I can't do something.”

“I don't care if you're purple. If you're making a catch or going to go down, you could be silver. I couldn't care less, if you're making those plays for the team. If you're a selfless player, nobody pays attention to that at all. White, black, silver, pink, it doesn't matter to me.”

“Learning how to walk again was a process for me. It was some of the darker days of my life, but I've had many moments of my life where I've had to just kind of put my head down and work, and this was no different.”

“We play a contact sport, and it's aggressive, and you have to be aggressive in everything you do.”

“Every one tells me that I'm a pretty fast eater. I'll sit down to a dinner, and I'll finish in two minutes while everyone else will take 30 minutes.”

“Always felt like I did things right, always felt like I did things for the community and did everything well in New Orleans.”