“It was a great place to grow up. There were always kids around in our neighborhood. We had a basketball hoop in the back of our house, a little front yard where you could get touch football games going. I know you think of it as a big city, but it was fun for me to grow up in New Orleans. I remember it as a very normal childhood.” ThinkingKnowsLittlesBigsKidsRememberGamesHouseFunGrowsCitiesGrowing UpChildhoodFrontsFootballBasketballNormalNeighborhoodYardsNew OrleansFootball GameBig CitiesTouch Football Author:Eli Manning
“When I was growing up in Baltimore, the Colts were not just a team that played in the city. It was part of the city. Football players didn't make close to the money they make today and most took jobs in the off-season. Some were mechanics, others worked at furniture stores, and you could find them drinking at a neighborhood watering hole.” TodayJobsCitiesGrowing UpGrowingPlayerTeamFootballSeasonsDrinkingStoresHolesNeighborhoodMechanicFurnitureFootball PlayerBaltimoreOff SeasonColts Author:Barry Levinson
“Football, you can go out and buy a football and play it in your backyard. Basketball, you can go out and play it in the schoolyard or in your driveway. Baseball, you get a glove and a bat and a ball and you go out and play in the neighborhood. You can't do that in hockey.” PlayFootballBasketballBaseballBallsNeighborhoodHockeyBatsGlovesBackyardsDriveway Author:Jeremy Roenick
“The '80s was brand new. It was AIDS. It was gangbanging. It was starting to become big dope-dealing, and crack was starting to flood the neighborhoods. And then you had hip hop, which was something new, other than what we were doing, which was sports, playing football, basketball, baseball. And I was excited.” BigsSportsFootballBasketballBaseballStartingHip HopExcitedAidsBrandsHipsHopsNeighborhoodSomething NewCracksFlood80sDopeBrand NewPlaying Football Author:Ice Cube
“Football is Lotto for kids from economically vulnerable neighborhoods.” KidsFootballVulnerableNeighborhood Author:Steve Almond
“In my neighborhood in Springfield, Ohio, there were a lot of young kids. We all played tackle football after school, but I knew very early on that I was not an athlete.” KidsSchoolYoungFootballAthleteNeighborhoodOhioAfter School Author:John Legend