“I understood that there would be some backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down, I felt like it was the right thing to do. And if I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward. I can’t live with that. God wouldn’t be able to put me where I am today, and as far as I’ve come in life, if I was a coward.” IfsI CanSoulRunningTodayAbleFeltUnderstoodScaredHonestlyMy SoulThings To DoRight ThingCowardRunning AwayDeep DownBacklash Author:Andrew Hawkins
“I was always the underdog that everyone identified with, and I still think I'm that way. But if you're on the other side of the fence on a certain issue, your opinion is going to change. And that was the part I was scared of, because I built my reputation on being this guy who's all about football - and I am, and I'm still the same guy, that doesn't change.” IfsThinkingWayStillsGuyCertainSidesOpinionIssuesFootballBuiltScaredReputationFenceThis GuyUnderdog Author:Andrew Hawkins
“Whatever backlash I was going to get, whatever consequence there was for stating my opinion, I was OK with. Because I look at my son's eyes, I look at the eyes of my daughter, and I would be a bad dad if my No. 1 goal wasn't always to put them in the best situation as possible.” IfsLooksWould BeEyeGoalSituationOpinionSonDadDaughterConsequenceMy DaughterMy SonBacklash Author:Andrew Hawkins
“If you're tweeting - and this is what I tell the young athletes who come to me about these situations, because I've been through them and I've seen both sides of it - if you're tweeting just because everyone else is tweeting and you're not uncomfortable, if it doesn't feel like a sacrifice - like when I wore that T-shirt it was a sacrifice.” IfsFeelsYoungSidesSituationSacrificeAthleteUncomfortableShirtsBoth SidesT ShirtYoung Athletes Author:Andrew Hawkins
“As you get older and as your situation changes, it becomes different. Yes, I have to provide for my family, so if there's a chance that I'm not going to be able to provide for my family, who is always number one, my kids are always number one, then yeah, maybe it's not the same. But like I said, everybody's boiling point is different and you get to that point differently and you're at peace with it.” IfsSaidDifferentKidsAbleChanceNumbersSituationMy FamilyYeahBoilingBoiling Point Author:Andrew Hawkins
“I think people are wrong to do it, to compare him to your way of wanting to do it. If you're passionate about it, do it and do it your way. It's not always going to be in front of the cameras after a football game - that was the way I did it. Somebody else has a different way, and that's [James] LeBron, and I know who he is. And I can't get into specifics, but it did upset me that people were calling him out for that because they were just wrong.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWayI CanDifferentGamesFrontsFootballCallingCamerasPassionateCompareUpsetDifferent WaysFootball GameSpecifics Author:Andrew Hawkins
“We [Cleveland Browns] are from the same segments of America that everyone else is from. We have the same diversity, the same mix, so we don't run away from issues amongst each other, because we're brothers and we have to build that bond because we're always on the quest to be world champions. That's always our quest, and if you don't have that bond, it's not going to happen. So I guess every locker room is different, but our locker room I think is more than fine.” IfsThinkingWorldDifferentHappensRunningAmericaRoomsIssuesBrotherFineDiversityChampionRunning AwayQuestsLockersClevelandLocker RoomWorld ChampionsCleveland Browns Author:Andrew Hawkins
