Matt Cassel

“Competition brings out the best in everybody.”

“I've been on a number of NFL teams, and a lot of them address situational football. But I've never been around a team that does it as meticulously as the New England Patriots.”

“Without a lot of college film, a lot of people had written me off already. When the Patriots called, I was pretty happy.”

“We knew what was going on with Spygate. We were in football mode, and it didn't impact our day-to-day. There's so much noise on the outside - 'You're cheaters, you're this, you're that' - but the easiest way to settle that is to go 18-0 and go to the Super Bowl.”

“You can't play tentative.”

“Pro Day was very important for me because that was really the only time that I had to prove that I could play at an NFL level and that was really through the physical drills they put me through which was running and throwing the ball. It turned out pretty well for me.”

“I think as the quarterback of any NFL team, you put a tremendous amount of pressure on yourself to win ball games because that's what you're here to do and ultimately, that's what you want to do.”

“As a quarterback, you have to go out and take care of the ball. That is your No. 1 priority.”

“The hardest part sometimes is when you don't get the reps and you continue to push yourself to learn and understand what's really going on.”

“Personally, I always loved the 1 p.m. Sunday games.”

“There are definitely times when taking a sack is a better play than doing something else and trying to make a play when something is not there.”

“With every look I can get and every defense I play against I get more experience.”

“I always want to be out there with my team. I always want to fight.”

“Nobody knows the future.”

“Any time you can come down and score on your first drive, that's what you're trying to accomplish.”

“I have tunnel vision. I go out and try to get better each and every day.”

“I never had a car in high school or college.”

“I collected baseball and football cards. My most valuable was probably a Mark McGwire rookie card.”

“In the preseason, you usually only get a small window of opportunity, but when you get out there for four quarters and you're able to put it together, then you're able to go out there game after game and continue to get better, it was great, especially when I was able to prove a lot of my critics and naysayers wrong.”